Pace chart · 10K
45-minute 10K pace chart (4:30/km, 7:15/mile)
To finish in 45:00, hold 4:30 per kilometre (13.3 km/h) from the start line to the finish. On even pace you pass halfway in 22:30. Below: every split, a negative-split option, what the goal implies over other distances, and the paces to train at.
- Pace per km
- 4:30
- Pace per mile
- 7:15
- Speed
- 13.3km/h
- Halfway
- 22:30
Pace band
45:00
- 1 km4:30
- 2 km9:00
- 3 km13:30
- 4 km18:00
- Halfway22:30
- 6 km27:00
- 7 km31:30
- 8 km36:00
- 9 km40:30
- Finish45:00
Even pace · elapsed time
Splits
Every checkpoint, two ways to run it
The even column holds 4:30/km from the gun. The negative-split column runs the first half 1% slower (4:33/km) and the second half 1% faster (4:27/km): 22:44 at halfway, then 22:17 for the rest. Over this distance the classic mistake is the first kilometre: fresh legs, a crowd going off fast, and you pass the marker ten seconds up without noticing. Those seconds come back with interest in the second half. Go through 1 km no faster than 4:30.
| Distance | Even pace | Negative split |
|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 4:30 | 4:33 |
| 2 km | 9:00 | 9:05 |
| 3 km | 13:30 | 13:38 |
| 4 km | 18:00 | 18:11 |
| 5 kmHalfway | 22:30 | 22:44 |
| 6 km | 27:00 | 27:11 |
| 7 km | 31:30 | 31:38 |
| 8 km | 36:00 | 36:05 |
| 9 km | 40:30 | 40:33 |
| 10 kmFinish | 45:00 | 45:00 |
Lap by lap, on a 400 m track
Elapsed time at each lap, 1:48 per lap at even pace. Second figure: negative split.
400 m
1:48
1:49
800 m
3:36
3:38
1,200 m
5:24
5:27
1,600 m
7:12
7:16
2,000 m
9:00
9:05
2,400 m
10:48
10:54
2,800 m
12:36
12:44
3,200 m
14:24
14:33
3,600 m
16:12
16:22
4,000 m
18:00
18:11
4,400 m
19:48
20:00
4,800 m
21:36
21:49
5,200 m
23:24
23:37
5,600 m
25:12
25:24
6,000 m
27:00
27:11
6,400 m
28:48
28:58
6,800 m
30:36
30:45
7,200 m
32:24
32:32
7,600 m
34:12
34:18
8,000 m
36:00
36:05
8,400 m
37:48
37:52
8,800 m
39:36
39:39
9,200 m
41:24
41:26
9,600 m
43:12
43:13
10,000 m
45:00
45:00
Equivalent times
What 45:00 is worth over other distances
Peter Riegel's formula (T2 = T1 × (D2 / D1)^1.06) turns one race time into another. Read it the other way round: if your latest 5K is well slower than 21:35, the goal is ambitious for this season.
| Race | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| 5K | 21:35 | 4:19/km |
| 10KGoal | 45:00 | 4:30/km |
| Half marathon | 1:39:17 | 4:42/km |
| Marathon | 3:27:01 | 4:54/km |
The marathon side of these figures assumes marathon-specific training: long runs past 30 km and enough weekly volume. Without it, most runners finish slower than Riegel predicts. Run your own time through the race predictor
Training paces
The paces a 45:00 goal asks for in training
Jack Daniels sums up a performance in one number, VDOT. This goal works out at VDOT 45.3, and his tables derive five intensities from it. They are the paces of the runner you are training to become: if your races are slower today, train at today's paces and move them as you improve.
Easy
6:21–5:18/km
Most of the week. You can hold a conversation.
Marathon
4:55/km
Steady blocks inside long runs.
Threshold
4:37/km
Comfortably hard: 20 minutes in one go, or 5 × 6' with short rests.
Interval
4:15/km
Reps of 3 to 5 minutes, close to VO2max.
Repetition
4:00/km
Short and fast, 200 to 400 m, full recovery.
Source: Jack Daniels, Daniels' Running Formula (Human Kinetics). The OpenAthlete app uses the same formulas to give you training paces from your best efforts.
Key session
5 × 1 km at 4:30/km, 200 m jog between
Half the race at goal pace, cut into pieces. Run it three to two weeks before race day. If the fifth kilometre is your fastest and a sixth would go, 45:00 is within reach. If the jog feels too short from the third rep, start the race on a slower goal and finish strong. Once it feels easy, move on to 3 × 2 km with a 400 m jog.
Free account. Build the session once in the workout editor with these paces as targets, and it syncs to your watch: it beeps when you drift off pace.
5 × 1 km at 4:30/km, 200 m jog between
10.8 km · about 0:56
- 3 kmEasy warm-up5:49/km
- 1 kmGoal pace4:30/km
- 200 mEasy5:49/km
- 1 kmGoal pace4:30/km
- 200 mEasy5:49/km
- 1 kmGoal pace4:30/km
- 200 mEasy5:49/km
- 1 kmGoal pace4:30/km
- 200 mEasy5:49/km
- 1 kmGoal pace4:30/km
- 2 kmEasy cool-down5:49/km
Is it realistic?
Who a 45:00 goal fits
Recent 5K
21:35
or faster (Riegel)
VDOT
45.3
Daniels' fitness score
Peak weeks
30–45km
Runs per week
4–5
The volume and frequency are a coaching rule of thumb, drawn from how training plans for this kind of goal are usually built, not a statistic and not a requirement. A runner with years of running behind them reaches the same time on less; someone new to the distance often needs the top of the range.
A free plan for this goal
Week by week, every session written out with its paces, ready to load into OpenAthlete and send to your watch.
See the 45:00 planQuestions
4:30 per kilometre, which is 7:15 per mile or 13.3 km/h. Held evenly, it brings you home in 45:00. Road courses are measured on the shortest line, so your watch will probably read 50 to 100 metres more: aim a second or two per kilometre faster than the chart. On a track, run the lap times and ignore the GPS.
About 21:35 for the 5K by Riegel's formula, and 1:39:17 over the half marathon if you race longer too. From 5K to 10K the prediction is usually close for runners who train four times a week or more. With less volume, the time goes in the second half of the 10K: expect to finish a little slower than the formula says.
Either works as long as the gap stays small. Even pace puts you through halfway in 22:30. The negative-split version passes in 22:44 and runs the second half in 22:17. Starting faster than the chart rarely pays: the seconds banked early come back, with interest, at the end.
Put 45:00 on your watch, not on a wristband.
Plan the goal-pace reps and the easy runs around them in OpenAthlete: Garmin, COROS and Suunto get every session with its targets. Free and open source.
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