Running pace charts for 5K, 10K, half & full marathon

Running Pace Chart: Finish Times by Pace

This running pace conversion chart shows predicted finish times for the four most common race distances at paces from 6:00 to 12:00 per mile. Times are computed from exact race distances, with a 5K (5 kilometers) at 3.107 mi, a 10K (10 kilometers) at 6.214 mi, a half marathon at 13.11 mi, and a marathon at 26.22 mi, assuming an even pace throughout.

Every row is pace multiplied by distance. The 8:00 row shows the arithmetic clearly: 8 minutes times 3.107 miles is 24.86 minutes, or 24:52, and 8 minutes times 26.22 miles is 209.76 minutes, or 3:29:44. Pick your pace, multiply, and the whole table reproduces itself.

Average Finish Times by Distance

The averages below come from RunRepeat's 2019 analysis of over 34 million race results, the largest published dataset of its kind. They include everyone from charity walkers to elites, which is why the overall columns sit far behind what serious runners consider "good." Race-day averages are also faster than everyday training pace, because races attract trained participants.

The average marathon pace of about 10:20/mile (6:25/km) is a useful reality check. If you can sustain 10:00 per mile, you are already faster than the median finisher, and the chart above shows what that buys you: a 31:04 5K, a 1:02:08 10K, a 2:11:06 half, and a 4:22:11 marathon.

How to Read the Chart

The chart answers two questions: what time does a given pace produce, and what pace do I need for a given time. To use it the first way, find your pace in the left column and read across. To use it the second way, find your target time in the column for your race and read left to the pace that produces it, then check a nearby pace if your target falls between rows.

One caveat applies to every row. The chart assumes perfectly even pacing, and real races are rarely that clean. Most runners slow 3-8% in the final miles of a longer race even with good pacing, so treat the numbers as targets, not guarantees, and add a buffer if your race-day goal is non-negotiable. The running pace calculator handles the conversion between units and odd distances.

Reading between the rows is also useful. If your pace falls between two listed values, the finish times interpolate linearly, so an 8:30 pace row missing a column for 8:15 means a 5K that lands between 26:25 and 27:58. Rounding to the nearest listed pace is fine for planning; just know which side of the row you are on before you tell your pacing group to hold it.

Why Pace Slows as Distance Grows

Your sustainable pace is set by your aerobic system, and that system fatigues over time, which is why no one holds their 5K pace for a marathon. The practical rule is a 3-8% slowdown per doubling of race distance: if your 5K pace is 7:00/mile, expect roughly 7:30 for a 10K, 8:00 for a half, and 8:30 for a marathon, with training volume determining where in that range you land.

The chart encodes this even though it does not show it. Every row is a straight line at a single pace, so the difference between your 5K row and your marathon row is entirely up to you. The wider that gap in your own training, the less volume you are carrying. Well-trained runners hold a tight spread across distances; undertrained runners blow up at the longer end.

A useful benchmark: your half marathon pace should sit within 4-6% of your 5K pace per mile, and your marathon pace within 10-15%. If your gaps are wider than that, the chart is telling you the same thing a coach would, which is to add base mileage before you worry about running faster short races.

Pace Bands by Experience

The 6:00 to 12:00 range in the chart maps onto experience levels in a predictable way. Beginners live at 11:00-12:00 per mile, recreational runners at 9:30-11:00, consistent runners at 8:30-10:00, and club or competitive runners at 7:00-8:30. Everything below 6:30 is the domain of serious competitors, and paces above 12:00 are walking for most adults.

Use your band to anchor expectations. A beginner aiming at a 3:30 marathon is trying to jump two bands at once, which is how injuries happen. Pick the pace that belongs to your current band, race it, and move up one band at a time.

Treadmill, Track, and Kilometer Notes

Three practical conversions trip people up when they use a pace chart away from a road race. On a treadmill, the displayed speed is in miles per hour, and your pace is 60 divided by that speed: 6.0 mph is 10:00 per mile, 7.5 mph is 8:00 per mile, and 8.0 mph is 7:30 per mile. Most treadmills also accept a target pace directly these days, which removes the conversion entirely.

On a track, one lap is 400 meters, so a mile is 4 laps plus 9 meters. A 10:00 per mile pace means each 400 meter lap should take 2:30, and checking a lap time against that keeps you honest without a watch split at every mile. For races measured in kilometers, shift each row down by the 1.609 factor: a 5K is 3.1 miles, a 10K is 6.2 miles, a half is 21.1 km, and a marathon is 42.2 km. The chart is unit-agnostic once you know the distance in miles.

Goal Times and the Pace Behind Them

Round-number goals are the entry points to this chart for most runners, and each one sits on a specific row. A sub-30 5K needs 9:39/mile, a sub-60 10K needs 9:39/mile, a sub-2 half needs 9:09/mile, and a sub-4 marathon needs 9:09/mile. Notice the pattern: the same paces recur, because these goals were chosen to be achievable milestones.

The harder truth is in the distances. Sub-30 5K and sub-60 10K share a pace, but the 10K requires holding it twice as long, which is a bigger ask. Sub-2 half and sub-4 marathon share a pace too, and the marathon requires double the distance on top of double the base. When you hit a pace at a shorter distance, the chart shows you exactly how much longer you have to hold it before the round-number prize is yours.

Time goals are only half the equation. The other half is consistency across the four distances, and the chart makes that visible: a runner whose paces map to the same row across all four columns has a balanced engine, while a runner who can hit the 5K row but misses the marathon row badly is volume-limited. If that is you, the fix is more easy mileage, not faster workouts, and the improve running pace guide covers exactly how to build it.

Using the Chart on Race Day

The chart becomes a pacing plan the moment you commit to a row. Write the split you need for each mile marker and check yourself against it early, because fading late costs far more time than starting slightly conservative. A common strategy is to run the first mile 5-10 seconds per mile slower than the chart row, then settle in and negative-split the second half.

1. Pick the row for your goal finish time and write the per-mile split.
2. Rehearse that pace on a long run so it feels familiar before race day.
3. Start 5-10 seconds per mile conservative and settle in by mile two.
4. Check splits at every marker and adjust early rather than late.
5. Use the final miles to negative-split if you have anything left.

The chart and the running pace calculator work together here: convert your goal pace to kilometers if your watch is metric, then use the chart on the wall as your race-day reference. The fuller training framework behind faster race times is in the how to improve running pace guide.