How To Run A 5k In Under 25 Minutes 

Sub 18 🤩, current PR is 18'12".

i know i can run a sub 20 min. The current goal is to do it in a triathlon. and the ultimate goal for this year is a sub 1 h sprint triathlon.

My younger days 15mins 47secs now i am older lost all my speed so the 5k is not my event anymore.

Current 5k pb is 25:48. 2022 goal is to go sub 20’.

Trying to get under 30 min. 2 years ago I fractured my fibula head and damaged my peronial nerve so things a coming slowly.

Thats the main aim. Longevity in the activity you like. That said, with structured training at only 4-5 hours a week, you could be sub-25 in 16 weeks if that's what you want

Above 50 here, started 2 years ago with Covid. Made 29 min something in year 1, 27:17 in year 2 (sub 27:30 was the goal). I have doubts about a sub 25 as well, but will try sub 27 this year. I was also going about a 10k time last year. Based on my sub 29min. 5k from the previous year, I was hoping for 1:03. I ended up with a positive surprise of 56:59

@@SubtleForces that's great Ralph! I am just starting some light weight training and it appears to be helping!

You're fast! The median time, which you wouldn't get from this type of RU-vid video, is 30 minutes at 5ks around the globe. I'm in my late 40s and everybody I know who got to 30 has done quite a bit of speedwork and hills and such to get there. Keep up the great work but there are a many people working hard and running 35 out there as 25. I think this video was meant for teens and 20- somethings who want to break 25. But keep working and you will get there. And if not the journey matters most!

@@50Something , I agree on strength training. I added body weight training with dumb-bells this winter, since the confinements in Canada limit my options: lunges, squats, deadlifts and calf raises

Amazing - well done!

Wow 🎉

Have experienced this too! So was really interested to read this. Wonder what happened !

43 here and currently at 29:08. You give me hope!

on my 46 birthday i laid down a 25.52 couldnt believe it. 23.39 is great

Well done that's fast 😊

Thats absolutely amazing

I'm 89 and just finished in under 18 minutes

Yup, I figure 10% reduction in bodyweight = 10% faster 5K

​@@brickmissing8295so losing weight=fast?

Every pound is 2.2 seconds per mile. I'm 65 and hope to break 20 minutes in the 5K within a year.

You mean lose weight?

100% agree

I don't think it's a good idea to go faster than race pace. If you place yourself in the right section of the crowd, you won't have to dodge anyone starting out too fast really affect the entire race.

You may have natural talent. It helps 😁

Fair play 👏

Ran a 5k without trying or training at all and just for fun in 24:48….. if I trained a few weeks I think I could easily do sub 23

@@gustavogo2915 no one cares

@@1boi593 seems like you care a lot since you commented 🤡

glad you enjoyed it!

You’re very welcome!

Did you hit the 25 minute mark then?

Yeah comman share it 🙂

Go for it!

1-2years

Ran 24:10 last park run. I can still see myself improving. Last 3 park runs sub 25.

Great🤙

How have you been getting on, Richard? Cheers to your great performance.@@richardmopp8229

Completely agree! They mentioned “Fluid on course” for a 25 minute run?! If it's so hot that you need to take on water for a 25 minute run, then it's waaaaaay too hot for a PB attempt! For anything under 30 minute PB, leave the gels and water at the finish line.

Thank you! 😃

>Still measuring stuff in "stone" Hell exists and it is called britain. Gott strafe England

How does that even make sense? You want to shave 3 mins off your time to 18 mins without even hitting the 20 min mark first? To cut anything close to a min will take you at least 8 months to a year of hard work.

RU-vid videos "30days to..." say hello ;D@@Unityfm78

@@Unityfm78what are you on 💀I had a 21:30 2 months ago and now I have a 19:00.

@@eat.more.chicken bollox

@@Unityfm78 For my cross country team, in a month I have gone from a 20:36 5k to an 18:25 5k. Its not that difficult to change your 5k time if you constantly train.

Race pace is more intense and is a pace that needs to be set for a whole race. Training pace could be that exact same as race pace but may only be used for a 1k section of the 5k training.

good luck man

Military running is all about having an overall volume capability such as being able to run 3 miles with the whole unit being able to perform that. It is not the same as running athletically. Running 5 miles every day for a young military age male is nothing out of the ordinary and will do no harm. Running 3 days week is for athletics running training for the average person and is achievable. I run every day, cycle every day and work on my farm every day and I am in my forties and it is not about setting run times. I easily can do a sub 20 minute 5k as my normal daily run time but that is easy for me.

You can do it! 🙂

@Stephan Bouderlique Establishing what your base line intervals are will enable you to build out your target 5k times. What is your all out 500 meter time and your most unbearably slow 500 meter time. You can build a series of intervals such as what your 500 meter interval times are with target of 1500 meters and other distances.

It's a figure of speech here obviously

~5-8%, if it's more or less it's not a bad thing u will also have benefit from it 😉

Go get it!!!

Good luck!!

You could make more gains if you lowered the overall volume and focused more on technique and the quality of the training sessions and doing some cross training. Your volume has allowed you to build strength, stamina and all around conditioning. If you want to make further improvements focusing on increasing strength would be a starting point. For example what is the fastest you can run 2km at?

@@bighands69 you are probably right. I wasn’t running for gains at the beginning but they came anyways just because of the work load i was putting in. I’m starting to lift a little doing dumbbell exercises a few days a week along with the running. All my buddies say if I stayed in the gym I’d be a an absolute beast. I have put in almost 1000 miles since August and if I start lifting regularly the sky is the limit. Now to ur question, Idk how fast my 2km run is my but my fastest mile is 5:57.

@@tylernorberg4504 With the shorter distances you could look to try and make gains there. Running circuits can allow you to build running strength. When it comes to weight training focus on circuit training that builds strength and endurance. A good circuit training session with weights can be like cardio training as it will increase your heartbeat.

​@@bighands69 25-35 miles a week is a low volume

Good job, hopefully you can get back to a similar time and maybe beat it!

I know exactly what you mean by those 'first 10 steps', such a good, but fleeting feeling!

What’s you advice for a 38 year old wanting to get under 18 mins, I’ve just started running after a few years, I’m at 22 mins now, aiming to be under 20 mins in a couple of months, but want to crack under 18mins by the end of the year.

@@xkimopyeconsistency

@@Iloverugby396 I think you’re right, I am doing the park run every week, and getting a PB every week. I’ve taken another 50 seconds off since last week, I really hope I can get into the 18’s or even faster.

@@xkimopye do you run outside parkrun at all?

@@Iloverugby396 yeah once a week I do a 5km jog. I know I need to do more, but I work 2 jobs and studying, been hard to find any spare time. But yes I will be increasing to 10km a week

You really can't compare 5kms and 42kms: completely different beasts, completely different biological systems being engaged! Just because you only run a pace of 5:20/km over 42km doesn't mean you can't run significantly faster over the 5km. Of course it also doesn't necessarily mean you can, so don't be upset if you can't, but you don't know until you try!

@@wilfdarr it is about FUN - not combat. I was always surprised to run well in a race set - showing the effects of my daily training. And to be in good health in any challenge - like now. Good enough! the oldest runner in frankfurt marathon was 82 years old 6 Hours...

@@raginald7mars408 At 82 I'll be thrilled if I can just finish!

@@wilfdarr when we take Life seriously we are infintely rewarded - all natural

Firstly well done, 24:17 is a great time, especially so quickly. To get faster you need to both do speed work and long slow work. For example sprint up a steep hill around 200 to 300 metres, slow job walk down and repeat 5 to 7 times, at first you may have to do less repeats. Another I like is 1km fast 1km slow and repeat until you have done 5km (please not for this you have to be able to run 5km easily and each fast km should be as fast as you can for that km, this will hurt/burn so be careful to not overdo it and hurt yourself, which is a hard balance to hit). For your long run it should eventually get in the 90 minute to 120 minute range and be done every week or so. During some of these long runs and during some of your normal runs in the final kilometre do some strides (90% effort for 100 metres or so 2 or 3 times). I also find doing some incline treadmill walks at a fast walking pass for an hour or so helps maintain my condition if for example weather is not allowing for my long run (I do not like running on treadmills), along with cross training such as doing some rowing and weight work for your legs and core in particular. The key is both volume and doing runs where you push yourself to run faster for a set distance, I personally do 1km for that. Just be careful to both push yourself to injury, and to increase your volume slowly (generally no more then an extra 10% per week, and i'd say a little less is probably what i'd target if I was starting out again). You also have to cultivate a strong mental aptitude, running 5km fast gets increasingly hard as you get faster (dropping from 30 minutes to 25 minutes is far easier and quicker then dropping from 25 minutes to 20 minutes, or at least it has been for myself and others I know). You have to learn to at the very least tolerate, but preferably at least on some level enjoy the pain of the run. To be clear you shouldn't be physically sick, but there should be a battle of will to keep your pace up as you go for a pb. As running 5km fast is painful and what I find to be the hardest distance to go for a pb at (10km and half marathon pb attempts are a lot easier). I have found for most it is the mental that stops one from cracking 20 minutes and below, and not a physical limitation. Hope that helps. :)

@@arrowknee7356 wow thanks a lot for the detailed reply. Much appreciated

How old/fit/tall were you?

@@somecuriosities i was 104kg/185cm. 30 yo. Out of shape for sure :)

@@Mateuszyk That's great work! You should be really proud of the effort you have put in! 😃🙌

@@Mateuszyk you may have natural talent! But don't overdo it!

keep going!

5k is not that far to be honest and what would be the real factor for most people is the intensity of the run. Doing a flat out 5k every day will cause many people issues doing it at a leisurely pace is really easy for many people. There are so many different approach's you can take as there is more than one way to skin a banana. You can do pure volume with high mileage, You can do Fartlek, Speed runs with rest intervals and so on.

Run three times a week, a jog at 7'00"~7'15/km during 8km near the end do 3 strides of 20" with 1'-1'30" rest between each not all out sprint like 90-95% of your max. Let one day between the next session, the interval training, start with 10-20' warm up 7'00"~7'15"/km, u will do 8x45" fast/45"slow (~7'15"/km). If there is a track next to you, you can do this with 8x200m the next week with 50"slow or if not 8x1'fast/50"slow next week you can increase to 8x1'30" fast with 1'00" jog after that u can try 8x400m or 8x2' with 1'10" jogg next week do 8x500m or 2'30" with 1'15" jogg, next week you can try 12x500 or 2'30" with 1'15"jogg, And now u can try 5x1km at ur target 5k pace with 1'35" jogg between, last week before race do just like 4x500 at 5k pace with 1'15" jogg. Each time end of the session with 10' cool down 7'30"/km or slower. Let two rest day after the interval session and do an 8km jogg at 7'30"/km or slower. Other tips: for interval session try to not start to fast and to increase a bit the speed during the session. During the jogg if there is a hill just walk. Hope that will help you 😃

Easy volume. Add a day, so maybe build up to 5K a day 6 days a week. Once there, add easy volume on one of the days until you are at 8KM. Then do the same gradually on another day. Your total weekly volume will increase as will your durability. After 12-16 weeks, your legs should be durable enough to add more easy volume and add speed work sessions on one or two of the days

@John Smith I would recommend understanding what your pace capabilities are such as how fast can you run 1km and how can you vary that pace. You can do a pile of different training that may help you but you will not understand the mechanics of it.

Great work!

The faster you'll get the slower the improvement will be. However, if you consistantly train, then you should get down to about 20 flat. From there it gets much tougher but is still doable

@@harrisonthegr8526 thanks, so you think I could get to 20mins, even if I only run once per week?

@@mart34 that will be a little difficult. Personally, I’ve seen people run once a week and not break 30 minutes and people run 5 times a week and not break 20. Id say to keep doing what you’re doing until you hit that “wall” and then you will probably need to do more running to continue to cut down tjme

@@harrisonthegr8526 Thanks, appreciate your response. Last Saturdays run was 24.03 so still making leaps, but can see the wall approaching. Cheers

@@mart34 still amazing! Keep going!

If you are stuck at 25:30 your problem isn't "overcomplication." You are probably just fat. Honestly.