Pace chart · 5K
18-minute 5K pace chart (3:36/km, 5:48/mile)
To finish in 18:00, hold 3:36 per kilometre (16.7 km/h) from the start line to the finish. On even pace you pass halfway in 9:00. Below: every split, a negative-split option, what the goal implies over other distances, and the paces to train at.
- Pace per km
- 3:36
- Pace per mile
- 5:48
- Speed
- 16.7km/h
- Halfway
- 9:00
Pace band
18:00
- 1 km3:36
- 2 km7:12
- Halfway9:00
- 3 km10:48
- 4 km14:24
- Finish18:00
Even pace · elapsed time
Splits
Every checkpoint, two ways to run it
The even column holds 3:36/km from the gun. The negative-split column runs the first half 1% slower (3:38/km) and the second half 1% faster (3:34/km): 9:05 at halfway, then 8:55 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 3:36.
| Distance | Even pace | Negative split |
|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 3:36 | 3:38 |
| 2 km | 7:12 | 7:16 |
| 2.5 kmHalfway | 9:00 | 9:05 |
| 3 km | 10:48 | 10:52 |
| 4 km | 14:24 | 14:26 |
| 5 kmFinish | 18:00 | 18:00 |
Lap by lap, on a 400 m track
Elapsed time at each lap, 1:26 per lap at even pace. Second figure: negative split.
400 m
1:26
1:27
800 m
2:53
2:55
1,200 m
4:19
4:22
1,600 m
5:46
5:49
2,000 m
7:12
7:16
2,400 m
8:38
8:44
2,800 m
10:05
10:10
3,200 m
11:31
11:35
3,600 m
12:58
13:01
4,000 m
14:24
14:26
4,400 m
15:50
15:52
4,800 m
17:17
17:17
5,000 m
18:00
18:00
Equivalent times
What 18:00 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 10K is well slower than 37:32, the goal is ambitious for this season.
| Race | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| 5KGoal | 18:00 | 3:36/km |
| 10K | 37:32 | 3:45/km |
| Half marathon | 1:22:48 | 3:55/km |
| Marathon | 2:52:38 | 4:05/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 18:00 goal asks for in training
Jack Daniels sums up a performance in one number, VDOT. This goal works out at VDOT 56.3, 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
5:20–4:27/km
Most of the week. You can hold a conversation.
Marathon
4:05/km
Steady blocks inside long runs.
Threshold
3:52/km
Comfortably hard: 20 minutes in one go, or 5 × 6' with short rests.
Interval
3:33/km
Reps of 3 to 5 minutes, close to VO2max.
Repetition
3:21/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
6 × 800 m at 3:36/km, 400 m jog between
Almost the whole race at goal pace, with breaks. Run it three to two weeks before race day. If the last two reps are no slower than the first, 18:00 holds. If you are fighting from the third, take the next chart down. For the final fortnight, a sharper version: 10 × 400 m slightly faster than goal pace, with a 200 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.
6 × 800 m at 3:36/km, 400 m jog between
11.8 km · about 0:52
- 3 kmEasy warm-up4:53/km
- 800 mGoal pace3:36/km
- 400 mEasy4:53/km
- 800 mGoal pace3:36/km
- 400 mEasy4:53/km
- 800 mGoal pace3:36/km
- 400 mEasy4:53/km
- 800 mGoal pace3:36/km
- 400 mEasy4:53/km
- 800 mGoal pace3:36/km
- 400 mEasy4:53/km
- 800 mGoal pace3:36/km
- 2 kmEasy cool-down4:53/km
Is it realistic?
Who a 18:00 goal fits
Recent 10K
37:32
or faster (Riegel)
VDOT
56.3
Daniels' fitness score
Peak weeks
45–65km
Runs per week
5–6
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.
No 5K plan yet
The free plans start at the 10K. Take the one nearest your level: its goal-pace sessions carry over well, and in OpenAthlete you can swap in the paces from this page, session by session.
Browse the training plansQuestions
3:36 per kilometre, which is 5:48 per mile or 16.7 km/h. Held evenly, it brings you home in 18:00. 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 37:32 for the 10K and 1:22:48 for the half marathon, by Riegel's formula. Read it with care: the 5K leans on speed, longer races on endurance. Runners who train short and fast often race the 5K well and the half slower than predicted; marathoners dropping down to the 5K usually show the opposite.
Either works as long as the gap stays small. Even pace puts you through halfway in 9:00. The negative-split version passes in 9:05 and runs the second half in 8:55. Starting faster than the chart rarely pays: the seconds banked early come back, with interest, at the end.
Put 18:00 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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