Once you’ve started training for a 10-kilometer (or 6.2 miles) running race, it’s natural to start thinking about your goal finish time. A helpful way to begin setting a goal is to look at average 10k times for runners whose background and experience match your own.
In this article, you will find answers to the following questions:
- What’s an average 10k time?
- What’s a good 10k time for a beginner?
- What’s a good 10k time by age or gender?
- What’s the world record 10k time?
- What’s a fast 10k time for elite runners?
- How can you improve your 10k time?
What is the Average 10k Time?
It isn’t easy to determine a precise average time it takes to run a 10k among all runners and walkers that complete the distance worldwide. However, we’ve run some calculations, and an average finishing time for an athlete running (as opposed to walking) a 10k is between 45 and 55 minutes.
Average 10k Times By Age and Gender
If you’d like to get even more specific about the average 10k running time range by gender and age, you can use our handy calculator, available at:
Just enter your gender and age, and you’ll see the average time for your demographic and the benchmark times we’d expect for beginner and elite runners.
By using this calculator, we can determine the average 10k times for a few example age groups:
Male, 30 years old: 46 minutes, 43 seconds, which equates to a running pace of:
- 7 minutes, 31 seconds per mile, or
- 4 minutes, 40 seconds per kilometer
Female, 40 years old: 56 minutes, 20 seconds, which equates to a running pace of:
- 9 minutes, 4 seconds per mile, or
- 5 minutes, 38 seconds per kilometer
Male, 70 years old: 1 hour, 3 minutes, 15 seconds, which equates to a running pace of:
- 10 minutes, 11 seconds per mile, or
- 6 minutes, 19 seconds per kilometer
Female, 65 years old: 1 hour, 13 minutes, 57 seconds, which equates to a running pace of:
- 11 minutes, 54 seconds per mile, or
- 7 minutes, 24 seconds per kilometer
Of course, these are just the average times it takes an athlete of the designated age and gender to complete a 10k. Your actual race time will depend on many variables, including your running experience, fitness level, training program, genetics, and even gear selection.
What’s a Good 10k Time For a Beginner?
While we’ve determined the average 10k run times for various groups of runners, it’s important to remember that those averages include the race times of many experienced 10k runners. But what about beginners? What would be good 10k running times for a new runner?
Here at MOTTIV, we believe that with the proper training and no significant physical limitations, a good 10k goal time for a beginner runner would be under 60 minutes. To break that 60-minute barrier, your goal paces would be:
- Faster than 9 minutes, 39 seconds per mile running pace OR
- Faster than 6 minutes per kilometer
Now, if you’re a beginner runner but have experience in other endurance sports or sports that involve a lot of running, like soccer, we’d set the goals a bit higher. For an experienced athlete starting with 10ks, we'd expect you to finish in under 50 minutes. The paces necessary to break 25 minutes in a 10k are:
- Faster than 8 minutes, 9 seconds per mile OR
- Faster than 5 minutes per kilometer
We base these goal times on the assumption that you’d want to run using a well-designed training program over several weeks. If you’d like to know how long it takes to train, check out this calculator, which tells you the number of weeks you should plan to devote to a 10k training plan based on your background and goals:
What’s The World Record 10k Run Time?
Having learned the average times for a 10k race among all runners and good time goals for beginner runners, let’s turn our attention to the fastest 10k runners out there: the world record holders.
There are two sets of 10k world records, those set during races run on a track and those set during races on roads. There are several differences between these types of events, including:
- Forum: 10k track races are usually contested as part of track and field meets or large-scale events such as the Olympics. 10k road races can take place in any town at any time.
- Surface: 10k track events are run on softer, rubberized tracks. 10k road race routes typically occur on normal roads but can also traverse paths, dirt roads, grass, or other surfaces.
- Number of Racers: 10k track events are typically invite-only and limited to 20 or fewer runners per heat. At 10k road races elite runners are almost always racing as part of a larger event that includes runners of all speeds.
- Terrain: A track 10k will always look the same - 25 laps of a flat 400-meter outdoor track. Road 10ks are much more variable. They can be hilly or flat, run point-to-point with no turns, or have 20 turns as a race winds its way through a neighborhood.
Because of these differences, 10k times run on the track tend to be faster. The world record finish times for the 10k track distance are:
- 26 minutes and 11 seconds for men, set on October 7, 2020, by Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda at a race in Velencia, Spain
- 29 minutes and 1 second for women, set on June 8, 2021, by Letesenbet Gidney of Ethiopia at a race in Hengelo, Netherlands
The 10k road world records are:
- 26 minutes and 24 seconds for men, set on January 12, 2020, by Rhonex Kiprutoi of Kenya at the 10K Valencia Ibercaja race in Valencia, Spain
- 29 minutes, 14 seconds for women, set on February 27, 2022, by Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia at the Castellon 10k race in Castello, Spain
Local elite runners, like the ones you’re likely to see breaking the tape at your community race, may complete a 10k race in a finish time of 31 to 33 minutes (or even faster) for men, or 37 to 40 minutes for women. Experienced runners may even go faster than that.
How to Improve Your 10k Time
Many beginner runners enjoy the process of training for and finishing their first 10k so much that they soon decide to enter more races with the hope of improving their finish time with a new personal best. Although for many new runners, a faster pace will come from simply running more miles, there are some ways you can structure your training to maximize its benefit and improve your running speed.
If you’re looking for tips to get faster, consider incorporating these things into your exercise routine:
- Long, low-intensity runs. The foundation of the training for any endurance running event is plenty of easy running, including a weekly low-intensity long run. Long slow distance has numerous physiological benefits, including teaching the body to become more metabolically efficient, increasing the mitochondrial density in the cells, and improving the durability of the muscles.
- Interval runs. To improve running speed, you should also include some interval runs. Interval runs typically include multiple repeats of shorter distances at faster speeds, with periods of walking or very easy running in between. For example, an interval workout may be eight repeats of 400-meter runs at your 10k goal pace, with short recoveries of 200 meters of walking or jogging.
- Proper training zones. To effectively incorporate interval runs, long, slow runs, and other workouts in your 10k plan, you need to know how fast or hard to run. You can do this by creating training zones based on your heart rate and then using those zones to guide the intensity of your training.
- Strength training. In addition to your running, basic strength training is crucial for preparing the body for the physical exertion of training for and racing a 10k and preventing injury.
The best way to ensure you incorporate all of these important features is to find a reliable 10k training program. A good training program will include all of these sessions, lay them out logically to maximize their benefits, and progressively increase the training load and mileage to reduce risk of injury and keep you healthy. You can find excellent 10k training in the MOTTIV training app.
Wrap-Up
Having a good goal for your 10k is a great way to motivate yourself through your training and preparation. This article has shown you the following:
- The average 10k run times for the overall population, as well as the average times we may expect for an individual, taking into account age, gender, and athletic background
- Just how fast the world’s best runners can cover the 10k distance
- Some tips to improve your 10k run time
Now that you’ve got a good sense of some reasonable goals, it’s time to get running!
