How long will your 5K take?

A 5K is 5 kilometres, or 3.1 miles. How long it takes depends on one thing: your average pace over that distance. Enter yours below — or, if you run and walk in turns like most beginners do, enter the rhythm and both speeds.

How long does a 5K take?

For most people who are new to running, somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. Someone walking briskly the whole way usually needs 45 to 60 minutes.

The most useful real-world reference is what people actually run in races. RunRepeat analysed US 5K results from 2009 to 2018 — about 2.6 million finishers a year, walkers included. The average finish times:

Age	Women	Men
Under 20	38:38	31:28
20–29	38:44	33:19
30–39	40:13	34:36
40–49	41:40	35:24
50–59	43:57	36:34
60+	48:41	40:42

Across everyone, the average was 39:02 — 35:22 for men and 41:21 for women (RunRepeat, US 5K statistics).

Two things are worth knowing about those numbers. They include everyone who crossed the line, so a lot of people in them walked part of the way. And they come from race day, when people tend to push a little harder than in training.

Run-walk counts

Most calculators assume you run the whole way at one speed. Beginners rarely do — and that is fine. Alternating running and walking is not cheating; it is how almost every beginner plan, including the classic Couch to 5K, is built.

What surprises people is how little the walking costs. Three minutes of running at 12:00 per mile with one minute of walking at 18:00 per mile gets you round in about 41 minutes. Running the whole way at 12:00 per mile would take 37. Four minutes on a 5K, in exchange for a run you can actually finish.

What's a good 5K time for a beginner?

The honest answer: the first one you finish. Your first 5K is about covering the distance without getting hurt and without hating it. Speed comes later, almost by itself, once running for 30 minutes stops being hard.

If you want a number anyway: finishing under 40 minutes puts a first-timer roughly in line with the average race finisher. Under 30 minutes is a good time for someone who has been running for a few months.

How to get your time down

• Run more, not harder. Most beginners get faster simply by running three times a week for a couple of months. Going all-out every run mostly leads to sore legs and skipped sessions.
• Run slow enough to talk. It feels wrong, but easy running builds the base that makes faster running possible later.
• Lengthen the running parts before you speed them up. Going from run-walk to running the whole way is the biggest single drop in time most beginners will ever see.