Most people work their ass off to achieve a 21 minute 5K, however you can run a 18 minute 5K purely aerobically with nothing more than base training if you look at running as a long term game and just put in the base miles (this is an extreme case, of really long term running with good base training) It's entirely possible you went from 45 minutes to 35 on a 5k in a few weeks just from this alone. getting your experience of a first race. Knowing what to do, knowing how to pace, learning to push yourself into uncomfortable running. Again a big bump, but not like the one above. 35 to 30 minutes is easily possible. I'd say around 21:00 - 22:00 would be a good time for a national average of all young males, with solid training. Some would have trouble running 15 minute 5K pace for 100 metres. ALWAYS HAVE A REST DAY (this means from running, leisurely bike ride is good for your mobility. Then play with diet, time, hydration, stride length, and run length. Gradually increase the distance after you hit 5K (3.1miles) AND then when you can go further 10k (6.2 miles) do a mix between longer and shorter runs. This employs speed, strength and form. If you do these consistently over a couple months you should be able to hit that 20 minutes! TLDR: Employ one-two speed days and at least one long day with one or two easier shorter days. Aim for 20-30 miles per week (30-50km/week) and you should hit 20 minutes in a few months. 2. As a new runner, you can adopt a Run and Walk approach to get started. A good range to aim for will be a 7.5 (7 min 30 sec) to 8.1 (8 min 6 sec) minute pace per kilometer or 12 to 13 minute pace per mile with walk breaks structured in. Begin with a 3-minute run, then brisk walk for 1 minute to recover. The American Heart Association recommends a target heart rate of 70-85% of your maximum heart rate for vigorous physical activity, such as running. You can calculate your target average heart rate while running by first estimating your maximum heart rate (220 – age in years). Then, find 70% of this value by multiplying your result by 0.7. If you want to run 20 minutes for the 5K, you need to average 6:25 pace per mile. Technically, that means the fastest pace you need to be able to run is 6:20 per mile. If you’re a 21-minute 5k From my experience, the majority of people finishing 5ks over 30 minutes do not run regularly, or are not attempting to run quickly over the distance. A lot of people do 5ks as fun runs, and they may run slower than 30 min. So looking at percentages of finishers under/over 30 minutes isn't a good way to judge this. Currently in love with a 6:00/km pace, but can hold 5:30 when necessary. Long runs (which are relative, because I'm currently not running more than 17km) are in between the 6:30 and 6:00 pace. You're doing great! Yakolev • 8 yr. ago. Around 5 minutes a kilometer for 10k runs, now I do them in about 4 minutes. 3NXBmc.