Below you will find our pace charts for five of the most common race lengths:
- 5k
- 10k
- 10 mile
- Half marathon
- Marathon
The idea is that by studying the required pace (in min / km or min / mile), you can predict a target finish time based on your current ability.
Pace charts are useful for any training plan, and in combination with a smartwatch, they provide an excellent reference point for when to speed up or slow down.
Pace Calculator
KM Pace Chart
| Min / km pace | 5k time | 10k time | 10 mile time | Half Marathon time | Marathon time |
| 3:00 | 15:00 | 30:00 | 48:17 | 1:03:18 | 2:06:35 |
| 3:10 | 15:50 | 31:40 | 50:58 | 1:06:49 | 2:13:37 |
| 3:20 | 16:40 | 33:20 | 53:39 | 1:10:20 | 2:20:39 |
| 3:30 | 17:30 | 35:00 | 56:20 | 1:13:50 | 2:27:41 |
| 3:40 | 18:20 | 36:40 | 59:01 | 1:17:21 | 2:34:43 |
| 3:50 | 19:10 | 38:20 | 1:01:41 | 1:20:52 | 2:41:45 |
| 4:00 | 20:00 | 40:00 | 1:04:22 | 1:24:23 | 2:48:47 |
| 4:05 | 20:25 | 40:50 | 1:05:43 | 1:26:09 | 2:52:18 |
| 4:10 | 20:50 | 41:40 | 1:07:03 | 1:27:54 | 2:55:49 |
| 4:15 | 21:15 | 42:30 | 1:08:24 | 1:29:40 | 2:59:20 |
| 4:20 | 21:40 | 43:20 | 1:09:44 | 1:31:25 | 3:02:51 |
| 4:25 | 22:05 | 44:10 | 1:11:05 | 1:33:11 | 3:06:22 |
| 4:30 | 22:30 | 45:00 | 1:12:25 | 1:34:56 | 3:09:53 |
| 4:35 | 22:55 | 45:50 | 1:13:46 | 1:36:42 | 3:13:24 |
| 4:40 | 23:20 | 46:40 | 1:15:06 | 1:38:27 | 3:16:55 |
| 4:45 | 23:45 | 47:30 | 1:16:27 | 1:40:13 | 3:20:26 |
| 4:50 | 24:10 | 48:20 | 1:17:47 | 1:41:58 | 3:23:57 |
| 4:55 | 24:35 | 49:10 | 1:19:08 | 1:43:44 | 3:27:28 |
| 5:00 | 25:00 | 50:00 | 1:20:28 | 1:45:29 | 3:30:59 |
| 5:05 | 25:25 | 50:50 | 1:21:48 | 1:47:15 | 3:34:29 |
| 5:10 | 25:50 | 51:40 | 1:23:09 | 1:49:00 | 3:38:00 |
| 5:15 | 26:15 | 52:30 | 1:24:29 | 1:50:46 | 3:41:31 |
| 5:20 | 26:40 | 53:20 | 1:25:50 | 1:52:31 | 3:45:02 |
| 5:25 | 27:05 | 54:10 | 1:27:10 | 1:54:17 | 3:48:33 |
| 5:30 | 27:30 | 55:00 | 1:28:31 | 1:56:02 | 3:52:04 |
| 5:35 | 27:55 | 55:50 | 1:29:51 | 1:57:48 | 3:55:35 |
| 5:40 | 28:20 | 56:40 | 1:31:12 | 1:59:33 | 3:59:06 |
| 5:45 | 28:45 | 57:30 | 1:32:32 | 2:01:19 | 4:02:37 |
| 5:50 | 29:10 | 58:20 | 1:33:53 | 2:03:04 | 4:06:08 |
| 5:55 | 29:35 | 59:10 | 1:35:13 | 2:04:50 | 4:09:39 |
| 6:00 | 30:00 | 1:00:00 | 1:36:34 | 2:06:35 | 4:13:10 |
| 6:05 | 30:25 | 1:00:50 | 1:37:54 | 2:08:21 | 4:16:41 |
| 6:10 | 30:50 | 1:01:40 | 1:39:15 | 2:10:06 | 4:20:12 |
| 6:15 | 31:15 | 1:02:30 | 1:40:35 | 2:11:52 | 4:23:43 |
| 6:20 | 31:40 | 1:03:20 | 1:41:55 | 2:13:37 | 4:27:14 |
| 6:25 | 32:05 | 1:04:10 | 1:43:16 | 2:15:23 | 4:30:45 |
| 6:30 | 32:30 | 1:05:00 | 1:44:36 | 2:17:08 | 4:34:16 |
| 6:35 | 32:55 | 1:05:50 | 1:45:57 | 2:18:54 | 4:37:47 |
| 6:40 | 33:20 | 1:06:40 | 1:47:17 | 2:20:39 | 4:41:18 |
| 6:45 | 33:45 | 1:07:30 | 1:48:38 | 2:22:24 | 4:44:49 |
| 6:50 | 34:10 | 1:08:20 | 1:49:58 | 2:24:10 | 4:48:20 |
| 6:55 | 34:35 | 1:09:10 | 1:51:19 | 2:25:55 | 4:51:51 |
| 7:00 | 35:00 | 1:10:00 | 1:52:39 | 2:27:41 | 4:55:22 |
| 7:10 | 35:50 | 1:11:40 | 1:55:20 | 2:31:12 | 5:02:24 |
| 7:20 | 36:40 | 1:13:20 | 1:58:01 | 2:34:43 | 5:09:26 |
| 7:30 | 37:30 | 1:15:00 | 2:00:42 | 2:38:14 | 5:16:28 |
| 7:40 | 38:20 | 1:16:40 | 2:03:23 | 2:41:45 | 5:23:30 |
| 7:50 | 39:10 | 1:18:20 | 2:06:04 | 2:45:16 | 5:30:32 |
| 8:00 | 40:00 | 1:20:00 | 2:08:45 | 2:48:47 | 5:37:34 |
Mile Pace Chart
Looking for a more exact finish time down to the second?
Check out Strava’s useful race pace calculator.
How To Use The Pace Charts
There are two ways of interpreting the times on our pace charts.
If you have a target time in mind for your chosen distance, you can match it to the required pace.
Once you have your target pace, it’s time to decide on a race strategy. You can decide whether you’d prefer to run evenly paced splits, a negative split (start steady, finish strong), and so on.
The second way of interpreting the pace chart is to see how you might perform at various race distances based on a pace you are comfortable with.
If you’ve completed a 10k at a pace of 05:00 m / km, you can see that running the same pace at a 5K will give you a finish time of 20:00, or 01:45:29 in a half marathon.
This, of course, assumes that a “comfortable pace” will be sustainable over longer distances. But it’s still a useful indicator if you are unsure of what target time to set for a race.
What Should My Target Time Be?
Many runners set overly ambitious target times as a way of motivating themselves to train hard. Inevitably, they end up tired and exhausted on the day of the race, and their performance will suffer as a result.
If you haven’t already done so, take a look at our pacing chart (above) to help you determine what sort of time is realistic for your chosen distance.
See more: our training paces calculator
Now let’s say you’ve already run a 5K in 25:00 and you want to know what target time to set for a 10K.
First of all – ask yourself, how comfortable did I find the pace at 05:00 m / km?
If you feel like you could have run further, or faster, then a good target time would be to maintain the pace at 05:00 m / km, giving you a finish time of 50:00.
If it felt like a struggle, then you will definitely want to lower the target pace so that you have enough gas in the tank to complete a longer distance.
Remember: target times are just that… target times.
You are not bound by the racing gods to complete a race in the ‘planned’ time. On many occasions it will be difficult to predict what target time is attainable until you’re in the thick of the race and your body is responding to the physical demands.
For this reason, we actually recommend setting three target times.
- Best Case Scenario Time – If everything goes to plan, your mind and body are aligned, and the legs are working strong. This is the PB and beyond territory.
- Good Case Scenario Time – You can’t plan for the perfect run, so it makes sense to prepare for something in-between. This should be a performance that mirrors what you have achieved before, or slightly better (particularly if you are a beginner in the process of picking off “easy gains”).
- Baseline Time – This is a time that you have run before, on several occasions. You are already trained at a the level where it should be achievable without breaking the mind or body.
When it comes to race time, we’d all love to tick off our best case scenario and run a personal best. But there’s a reason why the PB is so rare – it ain’t easy!
Give yourself multiple acceptable targets and you’re more likely to be content at the finish line.
The purpose of using a pace chart is to predict performance based on your current race times or pace. But the only way of truly knowing how fast you can run a distance is to get out there and run it.
See also: our VO2 Max calculator
