[Closed] Anybody run a sub-20 minute 5K (Parkrun) ?

Sounds tough. My pb, and one and only run is 56mins. This did include finding a stick to unblock my inhaler, my daughter falling in the mud and me needing a pee stop.

However Mrs Yak is aiming for sub 20 and is at 25 now, but hasn't done any training. There are no sub-20 women at ours so I assume sub-20 is quite fast. So good luck!

How hard will this be for a 49 year old man

[url= https://mensrunninguk.co.uk/training/sub-20-5k/ ]Very[/url]

surfer or aracer to the forum! Listen to what they say, as they are both fast runners, and have much experience with this sort of stuff

It will hurt.

Anything is possible with enough training. I am 42 and have a PB of 19.48 for a 5k. You don't necessarily need to follow a training plan but you will need to increase your time spent running and do things like hill runs, intervals, tempo runs etc. Best of luck!!!

Turboferret likes his running as well. So he may be able to advise.

I think under 20 is born runner type times.

My fastest is 19m 1sec.

What got me there? Weights.

Now before that kicks of an argument i dont believe the weights did actually help run faster. I think they taught me to push that little bit harder time and time again.

Also. Run 5k THEN run the park run. That knocks loads of time off for me being properly warmed up.

Anything is possible with enough training. I am 42 and have a PB of 19.48 for a 5k. You don't necessarily need to follow a training plan but you will need to increase your time spent running and do things like hill runs, intervals, tempo runs etc. Best of luck!!!

I started running last April after losing weight (6.5stones) and my first park run was a 26.5mins. I have now got it down to 21.50 and will be trying for a sub 20.

Issue is that I am also training for a couple of ultra marathons so pace isnt the priority at the moment but the speed will come as the training helps.

As already said time on feet with hill reps, tempo runs and intervals coupled with longer slower runs should also help. Anything is possible though.

The margins for 10k and 5k improvement are very slim so once you start getting towards your target time it can take a lot of effort just to (say) take a minute off your time.

I'm not massively a massively dedicated runner but aimed for a sub-40min 10k in the Salford 10k last September and came in at 40:13 😡

It took a fair few weeks of speed training to get to that and it ended up costing me a hamstring strain which I think I'm only just properly recovering from now.

I'm 36 so not sure if that makes me young or old.

Not sure what my point is other than yes it will likely be tough but you'll never know unless you try. If you start doing lots of fast intervals and speedwork though I'd say proceed with caution (as always) unless you do loads of this already.

There is a coaching website somewhere called McMillan coaching where you can enter your current race PBs and your objective PBs and they will formulate a plan for you based on these metrics. Probably worth a look.

Some Parkrun courses are faster than others. Find one that is all flat, and on good paths/tarmac. And get some decent weather, not too windy etc.

sub 20 is not born runner territory, but at that age it would be a good achievement.

Lots of short intervals 400m etc with equal amounts of recovery.

My 5km pb is 20m 21s, and oh my god it hurts. I will get under 20 mins though.....

A 19:59 parkrun for a 49 year old male gives you an age-graded score of 73.23% according to Runnersworld: https://www.runnersworld.com/tools/age-grade-calculator

It's not spectacularly high and should be achievable for most with a bit of dedicated training 🙂

I've just come back to running after a year or so off and enjoying riding too much to wanna run.

My aim too is the sub 20min 5k, aiming for 19.30. PB before lay off was 20.30, but at the time I was just running XC 10k's with friends with no structure or training.

This time I am planning some kenyan hills, intervals and also longer slower runs will get me there. OP give it ago and keep us updated!

I’m 43 and have a pb of 18:13, although I’m about a minute off that at the moment. Perfectly possible to be regularly under 20 mins! I only run once or twice a week and can maintain under 20, but I am up to 236 parkruns!

Just enjoy it and try hard! And I agree with the warm up comment - I often ride there and back which is 7 miles each way, and I run better when I’ve ridden first...

I’m just going to sit here in the corner with my 27:30 and sulk now.

Rachel

Thanks for all the advice. Will check out the McMillan coaching Duggan.
I've told the Mrs about my plan and also bought a Garmin watch for the pace making, so I now have a financial investment. Will keep you posted.

A 19:59 parkrun for a 49 year old male gives you an age-graded score of 73.23% according to Runnersworld.

Had a big injury a couple of years ago and couldn't exercise for a long time, before that I was regularly sub-20, and once even sub-19 (age late 30s). Following the injury I'd lost a chunk of pace but have managed to get it back to where I'm routinely sitting around 20:30 (age 42).

I'm now stuck between wanting to get back to where I was but not being arsed to put the effort in and make every run hurt...

I'm not massively a massively dedicated runner but aimed for a sub-40min 10k in the Salford 10k last September and came in at 40:13

I'm not teasing or laughing, because I've been there, and as awesome a time as that is, I'd nearly rather run a 41.13 (if you know what I mean...). 🙂

I don't really run at all and the checking the odd time I've done this year my PB was 24.58, so I would say if it's taken you a year to get to 25 mins you might struggle to see massive gains after that.

edit: ignore my bollocks I see you haven't done really structured training, so yes. go for it.

My pb is 20.01, I was gutted, 4th in the race but would have swapped that in an instant for 2 seconds, hopefully getting back into it after a bronchitis induced lay off. Evesham park run tomorrow will be my first run in a month

Isn't that percentage relating to world record time for that age. It doesn't mean that 73% of 49 year olds can achieve it.

No, it doesn't - but in my experience pushing 80% or above of age-graded time is where real talent kicks in and 70% is achievable for most with some dedicated training.

Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time. To score 100% as a 49-year-old man, you would need a time of 14:38.

I agree sub 20 is pretty quick for a 49yr old, but I was just making the point that it's not unrealistic - so OP, go for it 🙂

The way to improve your 5k time (short of a proper, bespoke training programme ideally put together by a coach) is to train so as to, (a) lift your VO2 max, and (b) spend time on your feet.

Spending time on your feet is the easy bit. Couple of 8-10km runs a week, at a steady zone 2/3 pace. One of these runs can become a tempo run as your fitness improves.

The VO2 max bit takes dedication and pain. Find a one mile loop, preferably with a hill in it, and make it your friend. Start at 3 reps as hard as you can go whilst still being able to complete the session. 2 minutes walk inbetween reps. Build up steadily to 4, 5 and then 6 reps (but dont move up until you've done each one at least twice and have improved your average time across the reps). Try and make each rep consistent - no more than 10 seconds difference between your fastest and slowest times. You should feel pretty spend at the end of the session. Lots of stretching afterwards and take a recovery day the following day.

Building consistency is key so you need to do this session 3 weeks out of 4, with the 4th week more of a rest week where you still do the steady runs but not the vO2 max session.

Whether sub-20 is achievable without a proper bespoke training programme I have no idea, but you can give the above a try and see how far it takes you.

Not wishing to rain on your parade, but I think you need to be sensible about this. A 50 year old man pushing for a running time target to me = injury. Especially if you aren’t a natural. Take it easy at first and listen to what your body is telling you.

I started running last April after losing weight (6.5stones) and my first park run was a 26.5mins. I have now got it down to 21.50 and will be trying for a sub 20.

Issue is that I am also training for a couple of ultra marathons so pace isnt the priority at the moment but the speed will come as the training helps.

As already said time on feet with hill reps, tempo runs and intervals coupled with longer slower runs should also help. Anything is possible though.

Great work shifting 6.5 stone and starting to do the ultra marathons...outstanding!

My PB also in the 19.30 range. I was stuck for ages around 21 minutes. Upping the weekly mileage too Parkrun + 1k warmup run and two 6-9 miles at a much slower pace (9 min miles) got me close to 20 mins. The final step seemed to come after starting spin classes. About a month after starting those I was under 20mins, which I could do weekly until baby sleep killed my sleep and my running time. Hoping to get back there this year (and also the sub 1.30 half time which is still 1.30 minutes away!).

Some Parkrun courses are faster than others. Find one that is all flat, and on good paths/tarmac

A lot of good stuff has been said already, although I'm not sure 'most' 49 year olds would be able to hit a 73% wava (otherwise it wouldn't be 73%, it would be 50%).

You are probably not going to see a 20% improvement in a year, unless you are really untrained or a genetic winner, so perhaps a staged plan may be more realistic. If you improve quicker than expected, all good. Staging may reduce you injury risk as well.

Good luck, I only ever made 21.3x, but who knows I've got a couple of years on you!

Matt

My brother is Scottish XC champ for 50+. I was trying to get my sub 40 10k (I'm 50).
His advice was intervals. 400m @ 80/90% then jog back.
A simple tweak is to do a 3K faster than normal. Then 2 / 3 mins rest. Then another 3k.

There was a monthly 5K race held at Camp Bastion every month when I was there. I think the fastest time I saw was just over 15 mins.

How quickly are you hoping to achieve this aim?

I reckon you could be looking at a years work to get there. 32 minutes is really slow, 25 minutes is a bang average time for anyone who isn't physically impaired.

Sub-20 is fast at any age.

Good luck!

Not quite, for me: I did a 10K last year (age 42 3/4) and my first 5K was 20min flat, so I'm sure it's doable.

A 6:20 pace 5k should definitely be doable but it's a big jump from 8 minute mile pace.

Set yourself a reasonable time frame for it. You need to build up slowly to avoid injury and let your body adapt. It's not going to happen this year so set some more realistic target for this year, maybe get down to 7:30 race pace. You'll need to go from 2 days a week to a consistent 5 or 6. Build up to this [u][b]gradually[/b][/u]. Once you're consistent [b][u]gradually[/u][/b] build up the milage . Get a decent base of steady miles. Lose as much weight as possible. Try and get some decent advice on your running style, cadence, stride length, etc. (look at how good runners run). Spend about a year doing this, basically turning yourself into a runner. Then start doing some interval work around race pace or above.

Issue is that I am also training for a couple of ultra marathons so pace isnt the priority at the moment but the speed will come as the training helps.

No it won't, or at least there's no guarantee. I do OK in ultras but I'm pretty slow at 5-10K pace - I did a 10K for fun with a mate last Sunday and finished in 43:46 which isn't bad (I'm 46) but isn't spectacular. I just don't do enough dedicated fast running as it's not what I'm aiming for.

I started running in 2013 with an average parkrun of 23 minutes and chipped away at those times peaking at 19.01 when I was training for the Bournemouth marathon in 2015. Although I was doing a lot of races over 2013-2015 and improved a lot.

Ongoing niggles with hamstring/glutes and a bit of laziness plus half a stone extra my best parkrun is now stuck at 21 minutes for the past 2 years.
The greatest improvement I see with people in my running club is those who do the track sessions

I'm not teasing or laughing, because I've been there, and as awesome a time as that is, I'd nearly rather run a 41.13 (if you know what I mean...)

Haha no, I know exactly what you mean!

To be honest I knew on the day it would be very close and thought I would just fall on the wrong side of 40mins so had decided that I'd treat it as a warm up race and have another go a few weeks later to properly try and nail it.

Ended up with a hamstring injury and now some foul weeks long chest infection so if I have another bash I'll be starting from the beginning again I think.

I'm not sure why but it's kind of becoming an itch I really want to scratch so I'll definitely have another go but I think the clock is ticking tbf.

I think you can do this.

Based on what you said, you only did 100 runs (av 2/week for a year) to knock 7 mins off. To me, that shows some potential and some ability.

I'd suggest getting to an average of 25-30miles per week over the next 6 months, over 4-5 runs at an easy pace. When you're comfortably there, replace a couple of those runs with tempos (20mins pretty hard) and a session of intervals of 3-5min efforts per week.

If you keep that up, I think you'll be sub-20 by the end of the year.

(I did similar and went from 56min 10k to 43min in a year. I'm now at 35min 10k and 17:15 5k. Not particularly quick but 30mpw is the most I can sustainably do)

beaker - Member
There was a monthly 5K race held at Camp Bastion every month when I was there. I think the fastest time I saw was just over 15 mins.

By an Athersmith? I've raced against them and they're quick!

My pb is 20.01, I was gutted, 4th in the race but would have swapped that in an instant for 2 seconds, hopefully getting back into it after a bronchitis induced lay off. Evesham park run tomorrow will be my first run in a month

A lot of good stuff has been said already, although I'm not sure 'most' 49 year olds would be able to hit a 73% wava (otherwise it wouldn't be 73%, it would be 50%).

That's not how age-grading works, but I agree, I should have qualified - by 'most' I mean 'most runners' - obviously vast swathes of 49 year olds couldn't dream of hitting 40 minutes for a 5km, nevermind 20 minutes, but we're all fit outdoors types on here 8)

It's doable but as others have said there is an injury issue, also it depends on the terrain. My local parkrun, hampstead heath, is a little brutal with it's two up hills on a lap that's run twice. I nearly cracked it as a 40 year old but then injuries arrived, and have ridden more than run. Still stuck at 20:21.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

I have a mate who's done a few marathons. I believe his PB is 3:00:03

Finished a 100 mile road ride event last year in 4h59m56s. My (ambitious for me) goal was "under 5 hours" as it represented a 30 minute improvement over my best. Under is under, over is nowhere 😉

Running. Hmm. I had a run recently for the first time in years and did 5km in a bit under 26 mins (avg pace was about 5m11). This thread has got me thinking of whether I could get down to a 4:30 per km. Only way to find out is try I guess.

It will be a challenge starting from here... But you can do it. Lots of good advice on here but in a nutshell:
Do more running, no replacement (although lots of other things help) probably at least 4 days per week. Quality running not "jogging"
Introduce speedwork in some form, also hill work
Do a longer run once per week
A couple of times a week run until your eyeballs pop.