Three 10How I beat my 10k PB and how you can toos; breaking 60, 50 and 40 minutes, 10K remains a blue-riband running distance for good reason. While it challenges you to run a fast pace over a significant distance, the recovery leave you wiped you out for weeks. With parkrun Runners World, Part of the Hearst UK Wellbeing Network 5K, 10K is the natural next step for the running newbie. Equally, for those at the more competitive end, 10K lends itself to some watermark times – sub-60, sub-50 or, for the speedy, even sub-40 minutes.

How many miles is a 10K?

From Runners World for adidas.

What is a good ‘10K’ finish time?

The term good, of course, is subjective. But, according to data collected by RunRepeat, the average 10K finish time in the UK is 58 minutes. For men, this figure is 53 minutes; for women, it’s 1hr 3mins.

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In terms of average pace, this works out at 5:18min/km, or 8:32min/mile, for men. For women, it’s 6:18min/km, or 10:08min/mile.

How many steps are there in 10K?

There are roughly 1,500 steps in a mile of running. So, times this figure by 6.2 and you have 9,300 steps. However, there are some variables, such as height, gender and speed. For example, data suggests a 5ft 4ins woman and 5ft 10ins man would take 1,943 and 1,817 steps, respectively to complete a mile (12,047 and 11,265 for 10K) at 12min/mile pace. Speed up, however, and the total change significantly. At 6min/mile pace, it’s 1,082 and 1,001 steps per mile (6,708 and 6,206 for 10K). Reason being, as a runner quickens up, their stride increases in length, meaning they take fewer steps over a given distance.

How many laps of an athletics track is 10K?

A 10K is 25 laps of a standard 400m athletics track. When the elites race, the final lap tends to be conducted at a blisteringly quick pace. During Sir Mo Farah’s gold-medal-winning 10,0000m at the 2012 London Olympics, he ran the final lap in 53.48 seconds. Try doing a single lap at that pace to get a sense of just how quick it is.

What is the best 10K training session?

So, you’re planning on training for a 10K? Keep up your easy running – getting in those slow, comfortable runs is still key to building the endurance needed to run 10K well. However, it definitely also pays to dial into your desired 10K pace – and the absolute classic 10K workouts is 3 x 2 miles at 10K pace, with a 5mins jog recovery between each rep. It’s a tough session that needs to be built up to. But if you can nail it, you can have confidence in hitting your 10K goal on race day.

How long to prepare for a 10K?

If you’re already in good shape, then you can try these 10k workouts and see how you get on. If you're starting from scratch and a little less bothered about time, then it’s possible to train for 10K in four weeks. However, an of the best 10K races in the UK will allow for more improvement and specificity. If you’re completely new to running, however, it’s best to first follow a 5How I beat my 10k PB and how you can too K training plan.