What pace do I need to run a 5K in 30 minutes?

How to · Updated 2026-11-10

A 30-minute 5K means 6:00 per km, or about 9:39 per mile, which is 10 km/h. Here is how to work it out, set your mile or km splits and aim for just under.

To finish 5 km in 30 minutes you need to average 6:00 per kilometre, which is 9:39 per mile or a steady 10 km/h. The pace calculator works this out for any goal time, gives you the split time at each kilometre or mile marker, and estimates what the same fitness could mean over 10 km.

What you need

• Your goal time, here 30:00.
• The race distance, 5 km (3.11 miles). A parkrun or most charity 5Ks are measured to this length.
• The unit you think in. If your watch shows kilometres, use pace per km; if it shows miles, use pace per mile.
• A recent run time, if you have one. It tells you how far you are from the goal.

Step by step

Pace is time divided by distance:

Pace = total time ÷ distance

For 5 km in 30 minutes: 30 min ÷ 5 km = 6 minutes per km. To get the pace per mile, multiply by 1.609344 (the kilometres in a mile). Speed is the same idea turned upside down: speed = distance ÷ time.

1. Open pace calculator and leave What do you want to find? on Pace (from distance and time).
2. Press the 5 km button. It fills the distance box for you.
3. Type the goal time in the Time box as 30:00 (minutes and seconds). A plain 30 also works and is read as minutes.
4. Read the big line: the pace per km and per mile. The sentence below it gives the speed in km/h and mph.
5. Scroll to Splits to see the time you should see on your watch at each marker. Change the km / miles switch next to the distance if you want mile markers instead.
6. The Race time predictor below shows what a 30-minute 5K suggests for other distances.

Training with a heart rate monitor? heart rate zones shows what effort level to train at. If you walk part of the course or count steps, steps to distance turns a step count into kilometres.

A worked example

Priya ran her last 5K in 32:30 and wants to go under 30 minutes.

• Her current pace: 1,950 s ÷ 5 km = 390 s, or 6:30 per km.
• Goal pace: 1,800 s ÷ 5 km = 360 s, or 6:00 per km. That is 30 seconds faster for every kilometre.
• Per mile: 360 × 1.609344 = 579 s, so 9:39 per mile.
• Speed: 5 km ÷ 0.5 h = 10 km/h, or about 6.21 mph.

On a kilometre watch her splits read 6:00, 12:00, 18:00, 24:00 and 30:00. On a mile watch the splits table shows 9:39, 19:19 and 28:58 at miles 1, 2 and 3, then a short last row of 0.11 miles that takes about 1:02.

To give herself a safety margin she types 5:55 as the pace and switches the tool to find Time. It shows 29:35, so holding 5:55 per km leaves 25 seconds in hand for a crowded start or a slow drinks stop. At 5:50 per km she would finish in 29:10.

The race predictor, using the 30:00 goal, gives about 1:02:33 for 10 km (6:15 per km). It assumes the same fitness and proper training for the longer race, so read it as a rough guide.

Check your answer

• Round numbers: 10 km/h means 1 km every 6 minutes, so 5 km takes 30 minutes. If your pace and speed do not agree like this, one of the boxes has the wrong unit.
• Mile pace must be slower than km pace. A mile is longer than a kilometre, so 9:39 per mile against 6:00 per km makes sense. If the mile figure is the smaller one, the pace unit is switched the wrong way.
• Add the splits. Five kilometres at 6:00 each is 30:00 exactly.

Questions people ask

Is 6:00 per km fast? It is a steady jog for many regular runners and a real challenge for many newer ones. What matters is the gap between your current pace and the goal: going from 6:30 to 6:00 per km usually takes a few weeks of consistent training, not one hard run.

Should I run the first kilometre faster to bank time? Most coaches say no. Starting too fast tends to cost more time later than it saved. Aim for even splits, or a slightly quicker last kilometre.

My watch said 5.15 km for a 5K. Which pace counts? GPS often measures a little long, especially around trees and tight corners. Your official time over the official 5 km is the one that counts, so it can help to aim a few seconds per km faster than the goal on your watch.