what is a best time for a 5k running

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Replies

  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member

    Male; 22yrs old.

    My PR is 19:45

    I think 14:55-14:58 qualified for the Olympic 5K this year for the US.

    Really? My last 5k, the top male finishers were 13:37, 13:40 and 13:41. Of course, only the #2 guy was American.

    I watched the US Track and Field Championships 5K finals, as two of the finalists went to my high school. I believe this was the US Olympic Qual as well, could be wrong. Winning time was 14:54.

    I thought the time would have been faster as well. I thought those two were laying down 5K's in the 13's as well.

    http://www.usatf.org/2013OutdoorsResults.aspx
  • blackNBUK
    blackNBUK Posts: 58 Member

    Male; 22yrs old.

    My PR is 19:45

    I think 14:55-14:58 qualified for the Olympic 5K this year for the US.

    Really? My last 5k, the top male finishers were 13:37, 13:40 and 13:41. Of course, only the #2 guy was American.

    I watched the US Track and Field Championships 5K finals, as two of the finalists went to my high school. I believe this was the US Olympic Qual as well, could be wrong. Winning time was 14:54.

    I thought the time would have been faster as well. I thought those two were laying down 5K's in the 13's as well.

    http://www.usatf.org/2013OutdoorsResults.aspx

    I would have guessed the difference is tactics. Most of the track races I've seen haven't been run flat out; instead they run at a comfortable pace for most of it, jockey for position and then run flat out for the last lap or so.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member

    Male; 22yrs old.

    My PR is 19:45

    I think 14:55-14:58 qualified for the Olympic 5K this year for the US.

    Really? My last 5k, the top male finishers were 13:37, 13:40 and 13:41. Of course, only the #2 guy was American.

    I watched the US Track and Field Championships 5K finals, as two of the finalists went to my high school. I believe this was the US Olympic Qual as well, could be wrong. Winning time was 14:54.

    I thought the time would have been faster as well. I thought those two were laying down 5K's in the 13's as well.

    http://www.usatf.org/2013OutdoorsResults.aspx

    I would have guessed the difference is tactics. Most of the track races I've seen haven't been run flat out; instead they run at a comfortable pace for most of it, jockey for position and then run flat out for the last lap or so.

    Agreed. It was all about the kick.
  • mjpTennis
    mjpTennis Posts: 6,165 Member
    Congrats on your 5k time. Great start. I started with similar training times over 2 years ago. I have been running ever since. Didn't run my first actual race until I was running under 30. So last year I ran a Thanksgiving Day race in 25:34. I have been upping my mileage since then and actually have been running between 25 miles and 40 miles a week. Soon I will start an 8 week 5k training plan and rerun that race. Excited to compare the years. All of the long running has made me faster for sure. Hoping to knock off 90 seconds and run under 8 min per mile. We'll see.
  • badgeratheart
    badgeratheart Posts: 91 Member
    My PBPR (Post-babies personal record) for a 5K is 23:14. Back in my teens I was pretty competitive, running in the 18:00's. I would love to go sub-22:00 again some day...
  • tennileb
    tennileb Posts: 265 Member
    OP : that is an awesome time!!!

    My first 5 km race was 32.06 I think, and 6 weeks later (tonight) I ran 5 km in 29:57 minutes
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
    My first ever 5k was 47:48 (15:25 pace) and my PR was a few months ago with a 36:58 (11:55 pace). I consider it a great success that my pace time decreased 3:30 in 3 years. I'm still one of the slower ones, but I don't compare myself to others. If I did that, I would never run again.
  • SHHitsKaty
    SHHitsKaty Posts: 301
    I don't know what my first 5k time was ever but I just ran a 7k last Saturday in 47 minutes and a 10k the weekend before that in 1 hr and 11 minutes.
  • josavage
    josavage Posts: 472 Member
    ETA: I just saw this quote this morning and it reminded me of this a bit:
    "It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice in your head that wants you to quit." - George Sheehan
    [/quote]

    I love this quote!
  • abickford82
    abickford82 Posts: 207
    I ran a marathon before I ever did a 5K, and I finished it at 5:32:28. I believed my 5K pace was about 29 minutes: and some seconds to it. IMO, don't focus on your time. Race once you become more seasoned. I tried to "race" my marathon and it landed me an injury and I finished the marathon almost 33 minutes past my goal time. Just go out there for the love of the run...as a beginner.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    I'm going to copy and paste my status update from last week about my thoughts after running my first 5k. I hope this gives anyone reading this thread a good perspective about how it really is about competing with yourself.

    "Yesterday at the gym, I was having a chat with the manager when she asked me how I finished in my 5k Sunday. For a moment, I was ashamed to tell her I finished 3rd to last out of about 25 people. Then, I realized she knows nothing about me. She wasn't there a year ago when I was having surgery to correct a kneecap that liked to dislocate. She wasn't there when I woke from surgery and my calf was hurting. She wasn't there when I was flat on my back in the ER, sobbing, where they diagnosed me with something that was almost unheard of at my age. She wasn't there when I begged the doctor to just let me start running, but they refused, afraid it would kill me. She wasn't there through the haze of painkillers and ice bags when I forced my knee to start handling weight at a squat it wasn't ready for yet. She wasn't there when I couldn't even run the 300 feet to our mailbox, and I walked the whole way back feeling like a failure. She wasn't there as my brother ran beside me Sunday, and just repeated over and over, "just keep running. You can do this. You can finish". She wasn't there as I fought eating disorders and demons to drop the 77 lbs I've dropped in the last year. And she wasn't there tonight, when I ran a mile and a half without ever thinking I needed a walk break. Tonight, I watched the moon rise while I ran, thanked God for the people in my life who WERE there, and realized that I'm pretty awesome"

    I finished my first 5k in 36:00 minutes, shaving four minutes off my best training run. I might never run a sub-20 5k, but what matters is that I do run.
  • Montarosa456
    Montarosa456 Posts: 133
    I'm going to copy and paste my status update from last week about my thoughts after running my first 5k. I hope this gives anyone reading this thread a good perspective about how it really is about competing with yourself.

    "Yesterday at the gym, I was having a chat with the manager when she asked me how I finished in my 5k Sunday. For a moment, I was ashamed to tell her I finished 3rd to last out of about 25 people. Then, I realized she knows nothing about me. She wasn't there a year ago when I was having surgery to correct a kneecap that liked to dislocate. She wasn't there when I woke from surgery and my calf was hurting. She wasn't there when I was flat on my back in the ER, sobbing, where they diagnosed me with something that was almost unheard of at my age. She wasn't there when I begged the doctor to just let me start running, but they refused, afraid it would kill me. She wasn't there through the haze of painkillers and ice bags when I forced my knee to start handling weight at a squat it wasn't ready for yet. She wasn't there when I couldn't even run the 300 feet to our mailbox, and I walked the whole way back feeling like a failure. She wasn't there as my brother ran beside me Sunday, and just repeated over and over, "just keep running. You can do this. You can finish". She wasn't there as I fought eating disorders and demons to drop the 77 lbs I've dropped in the last year. And she wasn't there tonight, when I ran a mile and a half without ever thinking I needed a walk break. Tonight, I watched the moon rise while I ran, thanked God for the people in my life who WERE there, and realized that I'm pretty awesome"

    I finished my first 5k in 36:00 minutes, shaving four minutes off my best training run. I might never run a sub-20 5k, but what matters is that I do run.

    ' but what matters is that I do run' - You hit the nail on the head there...very inspirational status...
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
    Ok... best way to answer this is to ask... What do you think is your best time for running a 5K? Did you commit to it and do the best you felt you can do? Or do you want to go back and try and beat it?

    Running is an individual sport and we are all different. Yes, worlds record is 12 minutes something... but that is an exceptional person. If you want to know the average... most people will finish in the neighborhood of 28-32 minutes. Most people also take 7 years to hit their peak when they start running.

    A 33 minute 5K is quite good for a beginner.

    Great Job!
  • jdim1093
    jdim1093 Posts: 418 Member
    I started C25K in June of 2012. My first race was Sept 2012 and I was just over 34 minutes. So you beat me.

    I just ran the 1-year anniversary of that same race and PR'd it: 23:55.7
  • jdim1093
    jdim1093 Posts: 418 Member
    I have a quote on my home PC

    "No matter how slow you run, you're still running circles around the guy laying on the couch"
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
    I have a quote on my home PC

    "No matter how slow you run, you're still running circles around the guy laying on the couch"

    Awesome and TRUE!
  • MichaelForgets
    MichaelForgets Posts: 8 Member
    Google your favourite/dream 5k race, and look for past results. For example, Boston 5k (http://www.baa.org/races/5k/results-and-commentary/2013-full-results.aspx) and enter Female for the query. Then pick a random page and scan the results. That should be about average. The nice thing about that linked page is it even lets you narrow it to age range, so your results are more relevant.
  • goldenguymsw
    goldenguymsw Posts: 191 Member
    I think everyone is different and courses vary... and ability levels vary... I have been running for only one year... I am 42 and my PR is 21:58
  • aurabu
    aurabu Posts: 28 Member
    Thank you all for the messages, very inspirational and informative.

    I went back there running and i am proud to say that my best time is now 31min 17sec!

    XXXXX
  • denniskillz
    denniskillz Posts: 62 Member
    Unless you are planning on running competitively there is no point in asking others what a good time for a 5k is. Really you are competing with yourself to see if you can go faster each time, or can you run longer as time passes by. I used to run cross country and then stopped for a decade, I am now trying to run like I used to but I know I will never get back to the speed I used to run at, but the hope of trying to better myself keeps making me try everyday.

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