I did a 10k in may after never running before in my life!!

I always found it easier running with someone. You don't tend to concentrate so much on your breathing. Also it gives you a 'I'm not stopping if they're not stopping' mentality.

Hope that helps

I found a cool app on my iPhone called "5k Trainer for Pink." It's free! It has you running three days a week. The first week starts you out very nice, 5 min warm up followed with 60 sec running 90 sec of walking. It repeats that until the last 5 minutes, then your cool down begins Then the following weeks build you up until you finally reach your 5k goal. It has helped me so much!
Also remember to breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, slow and steady. Hope this helps some

Just do it. Get into a rythm with your breathing and just go. First time i ran a 5k i just ran it and was a pack a day smoker for about 15 years. Took me about 30 minutes to run it. Oddly enough i quit 2 weeks ago.