How To Run A Sub 20 Minute 5km – Top Tips From A 17:44 5km Runner
Running a sub-20-minute 5km is a very common running goal. It’s a good benchmark of fitness and, in my opinion, is a fairly achievable goal for most runners.
My current personal best at the 5km is 17 minutes 44 seconds, and I’m now able to comfortably run a sub 20-minute 5km for most attempts. Whilst this may sound impressive, it didn’t happen over night and there was lots of trial and error. I experimented with different training approaches, and it seemed to take me forever to finally hit the sub 20-minute mark. But, after tweaking my approach and making some training changes, I did it.
To run a sub 20 minute 5km, you need to achieve an average pace of at least:
- 6:25 per mile
- 3:59 per kilometre
In this article, I’ll share my approach to running a faster 5km to help you smash the sub 20-minute mark.
Before we quick off. If you don't already have a GPS Sports Watch, I'd highly recommend investing in one. Not only are these fantastic for tracking your training progress and having access to data on your running, it will also be a practical way to accurately measuring your race time when you are ready for your sub 20 minute 5km attempt. I currently use the Garmin Forerunner 945, and it's one of my most used and important pieces of running kit.
How To Run A Sub 20 Minute 5km
1. Choose a fast course
Course selection is critical for running a faster 5km. If you’re constantly running your 5km runs on the trail, with muddy and unpredictable conditions underfoot, with lots of twists and turns, plenty of elevation gain and descent, it makes running fast tough.
These types of courses are great for adventure and having fun, but they make it hard to get some momentum in and hammer out some decent speed.
Instead, favour courses which contain the following features:
Paved terrain e.g., tarmac on paths and roads.
Minimal turns.
Flat. Minimal elevation gain and descent.
If, like me, you like taking part in weekly 5km parkrun events then it’s certainly worth investigating what the fastest and slowest courses are. This should help you select faster parkrun courses, and give you a better chance of hitting a sub 20 minute 5km.
Check out this list by Power of 10, which features the Fastest & Slowest UK Parkruns. At the time of the last update, there were 706 parkruns included.
2. Start at the front
An easy and immediate change. Starting at the front of the race pack is crucial for getting yourself in prime position, ready to run fast.
If you start at the back or even the middle of the pack, you’ll find that you’re spending lots of energy and precious time weaving your way around runners to have a clearer line for faster sustained running.
During the race briefing and/or warmup, consciously position yourself right at the front of the starting pack. Even if you’re not as fast as some of the runners around you, it means you don’t have to worry about getting caught up in a flurry of slower runners who likely don’t have running a sub 20 minute as their goal.
3. Increase your weekly training volume
It’s a cliché and incredibly common saying, but I’m a big believer in the ‘mileage is king’ philosophy.
When I first ran a sub-20-minute 5km, I was doing roughly 25-30 miles per week. This was a significant increase from the typical 10-12 miles per week I had been putting in beforehand.
There is a general correlation between the amount of volume and performance when it comes to training. Often, you’ll find that the fastest runners tend to put lots of weekly training volume in.
More weekly volume means that your body will adapt to the stresses placed on it. As a result, it gets stronger.
There are many benefits associated with running more, but the physical ones which will impact your 5km performance include:
Strengthened heart.
Increasing the number of capillaries (small blood vessels) to your muscles.
Stronger legs and bones.
Increased mitochondria (small structures which use oxygen to produce energy).
By running more, you will gain more of these benefits and as a result your physical fitness will improve. Before you know it, you’ll find you’re able to run further for longer, and you’ll feel more comfortable during your sub 20-minute 5km attempt.
4. Tempo runs
These are training runs where you maintain a hard pace for a sustained period of time. Typically, its about 15-25 seconds slower than your goal 5km race pace. In this scenario, it would involve running at a pace of roughly 6:50 per mile or 4:20 per kilometre.
I’d recommend incorporating at least one tempo run into your weekly training plan. This could be running 2-5 miles at your tempo pace, and you may find that its uncomfortable at the beginning. But, overtime, your body will get stronger, and you’ll get used to maintaining quicker paces for prolonged periods of time.
If you find that you’re feeling unbearably tired during your tempo run, you’re going too fast. Don’t worry about reducing the pace in the beginning. The last thing you want to do is push through obvious pain and cause an injury or some damage, as this will take you out of training.
If you haven’t got one already, I’d highly recommend investing in a GPS sports watch to accurately track your pace during training runs to ensure you’re consistent and maintaining the target tempo pace.
5. Interval runs
Interval runs are short, sharp, bursts of intense running, broken up by periods of rest.
These workouts are great because they get the body used to working at a higher rate, putting new stresses on it to lead to physical adaptations. This means being able to maintain faster paces for longer, resulting in a faster and hopefully sub-20-minute 5km time.
One of my favourite interval sessions for a sub-20-minute 5km is to do 5 sets of 1 kilometre, broken up by 90 seconds rest, at a pace of 6:15 per mile or 3:54 per kilometre.
Doing one of these a week will increase your lactate threshold, improve your Vo2 max, and allow your body to work more efficiently during speedier runs.
6. Race strategy (negative split)
The gold standard in racing is said to be the ‘negative split.’ Simply put, this is where you run the second half of the race faster than the first half. For me, this is my preferred strategy, and I can always say that I run faster races in whatever the distance when I run a negative split.
If you start out too fast, you’re very likely to overexert yourself and get tired quickly. We’ve all been in this situation. Enthusiastically surging ahead of the starting pack in the first 1 kilometre, only to find that we’ve bitten off a bit more that we can chew, and we start to get knackered. In these scenarios, I’m always left clinging on for dear life in the second half of the race. Not only is this not fun, but it’s also not good for smashing out a fast time in the 5km.
By starting out conservative, and at a comfortable pace, you’re able to properly warm up and get into the running zone. By the time part two of the race rolls around, you’ll be in a good position to put your foot on the accelerator and put the hammer down for some faster running.
A caveat with this tip. Make sure that your conservative, relaxed pace, is at least as fast as the absolute minimum pace needed for a sub-20-minute 5km. By aiming for at least this pace, you’ll put yourself in a good position come part two where you’ll be able to confidently put the hammer down and accelerate with more gas in the tank.
As a reminder, the target pace for running a sub-20-minute 5km is at least:
6:25 per mile
3:59 per kilometre
7. Nutrition
Nutrition is highly personal to each runner, and individual.
But a general principle I try to follow is looking at my body like a high performance sports car. If you put rubbish, low grade fuel into the sports car, it won’t be able to perform to its maximum potential. The same can be said about us as human beings needing to fuel our training.
Your nutrition doesn’t have to be perfect, and I advocate some vices and cheat meals. But its much better to focus on healthier, natural foods which are as unprocessed as possible.
I favour complex carbohydrates like porridge and wholemeal bread, with the occasional banana, to fuel training. For recovery, I focus on lean healthy proteins like chicken breast, eggs and tuna.
Also, I’d highly recommend consuming caffeine 25-40 minutes before your sub 20 minute 5km attempt. In research, caffeine consumption has been shown to improve performance in an athletic context with benefits including:
Reduced perceived exhaustion.
More alertness.
Greater concentration on the athletic activity.
If your nutrition isn’t optimised, making some shifts in a healthy direction will have big impacts on your training which will hopefully lead to a faster 5km time below the 20 minute mark.
There you have it. My top tips for running a sub 20 minute 5km. Let me know how your training is going in the comments, and what your current 5km personal best is.
Thanks for reading.
Craig
Running Cafe
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