Doing some kind of strength training is one of the best ways for runners to improve their performance and injury resilience, and Pilates is a fantastic low-impact way to cross-train and support your running.

For more information on how to best incorporate Pilates for runners into your training routine, we spoke to Liz Patient, certified Pilates instructor and founder of the Pilates for Runners app.

What’s a good way for runners to start Pilates?

“The low-impact nature of Pilates means it can be done anytime without impacting your running training,” says Patient. “You can get started with short but regular and consistent sessions tagged onto your runs or existing strength sessions. Start with just 10 minutes 3-4 times a week to see results, and from there you can scale and adapt your sessions around your running.”

Beginner Pilates Workout For Runners

1 Swimming 

Sets 1 Reps 12-15 each side

On all fours, extend your opposite arm and leg away from the body as far as you can. Lift them, pause, and then return to the start position. Repeat on the other side, alternating sides with each rep. Imagine you have a tray of very full drinks balanced on your back, so when you move you keep your torso as still as possible and don’t let your belly drop as you lift the arm and leg.

Progression: Once you’ve extended and lifted your arm and leg, move them out to the side away from the body, still trying to keep your torso as still as possible.

2 Round the world

Set 2-3 Time 1-2min each side

Stand and lift your arms out to the sides to shoulder height to help you balance. Lift one leg and bend the knee of the standing leg to lower into a single-leg squat, tapping the floor with your other foot as far in front of you as you can. Straighten your standing leg, then repeat the movement tapping the foot to the side. On the next squat tap your foot behind you, then finally move your leg across and behind you on the other side of the body. Keep your torso as stable as you can over your standing leg as you do this exercise.

Progression: Interlace your fingers in front of your chest so you don’t use your arms to help you balance.

3 Leg pull

Sets 3 Time 30-45sec

On all fours, tuck your toes then lift your knees just off the floor, keeping them as low as you can. Lift one foot at a time off the floor keeping your knees and torso as still as possible. Lower your foot back to the floor and repeat on the other side. Imagine that full tray of drinks balanced on your back again.

Progression: Lift the opposite hand at the same time as you lift the foot and tap the opposite shoulder.

4 Single-leg hip hinge

Sets 2-3 Time 1-2min on each leg

Stand and lift your arms out to the sides to shoulder height. Hinge forward the hips, tipping your chest forward so it faces the floor and raising one leg behind you as high as you can. Pause, then return to the start. Try to move as smoothly as possible.

Progression: Bring your arms over your head at the start to increase the challenge to your balance. 

5 Side kick

Sets 1 Time 1-2min on each side

Lie on your side with your knees bent and your body resting on your lower arm. Lift your hips so your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders, and extend your top leg. Lift the top leg to hip height to start. Lift it as high as you can while maintaining the position of your hips then lower under control. Try to keep the knee and foot of the moving leg facing forward, or slightly turned down, rather than turning towards the ceiling. This is to target the lateral hip muscles.

Progression: Try doing this same leg movement from a kneeling position with a straight, rather than bent, arm.

“Remember: it’s a run, not a race,” can be heard every Saturday morning in parks across the world, and the parkrun mantra is one of the major reasons the weekly 5K is such a fantastic event. But when your recorded time hits your inbox a couple of hours later it’s hard not to be excited if you have achieved a personal best (PB), placed well in your age category or moved up the overall rankings.

We feel a similar way about running in general. Every 5K you run is a good 5K, and breaking the 30-, 25- or 20-minute barrier is a great achievement, even if your time isn’t anywhere close to the world record.

But it can be helpful to know how quickly people like you tend to run 5K, so we gathered information published by parkrun, Strava and Running Level to identify the average 5K training and race times arranged by age and sex.

Want to know how quickly you have to run to achieve certain times? Our collection of running pace charts lays it all out, and we’ve included the 5K pace chart at the bottom of this article. 

And if you are looking to get closer to—or under—the average time for your age and sex, then follow this 10-week 5K training plan. It’s structured in such a way that you can tailor it to your level so you’re not thrown in at the deep end. We also have a couch to 5K plan for beginners to follow. 

5K Pace Chart

You don’t need to sign up for a half marathon or marathon to have a worthy target for your running. Sometimes the bigger achievement is trimming some time off a PB, and if you opt for a 5K or 10K race you don’t have to take on the hefty workload that training for three or four months for a marathon involves. If a 5K is your aim, you also have the benefit of being able to do one every week for free by attending your local parkrun.

If you’re looking for a running challenge, try this: run your local parkrun, then follow this 10-week training plan, created by Saucony UK athlete Ieuan Thomas and his coach James Thie, then tackle that same parkrun again to see how much you’ve improved.

While anyone can follow this plan, if you’ve never run before, you may be more comfortable with this couch to 5K training plan.

How To Follow This Training Plan

“This plan has been designed without any specific time in mind, so it can be adapted to anyone looking to break their PB, whether that’s 45 minutes or 20 minutes,” says Thomas. “All of these sessions are either exact copies or modifications of ones we will run ourselves during the winter/spring period, so they are tried and tested!

“The plan involves five runs per week, but this can be modified based on your current ability level. If you’re only running twice a week now, think about building in the different types of training runs in the plan alongside your current runs and just go for three times a week – you’ll still see a big benefit. For anyone already running five times a week, add in more easy or steady running between sessions to boost your weekly mileage.”

There are five sessions listed for each week without assigned days, so you can fit them into your weekly schedule, but try to tackle them in the order listed and avoid doing two tough sessions on consecutive days.

Types Of Pace Explained

Easy running: Used in long runs, warm-ups, warm-downs and active recovery between higher-intensity reps. Easy running enables you to run more distance without lots of stress on your body. Usually this means “conversational” pace – ie you could still easily maintain a conversation with a running partner.

Steady running: A step up from easy running. Steady runs accumulate distance without placing large stress on your body. Many runs will start at a very easy pace and work towards a steady pace at the end. The duration rather than the intensity of steady running should cause you to feel tired.

Tempo running: Tempo or threshold pace is a harder, prolonged effort. Quite a lot of 5K-specific sessions will be run at threshold tempo, designed to boost your aerobic capacity and lactate threshold, which allows you to run faster for longer.

Race pace: To be able to run a personal best you need to get used to what that pace feels like. Lots of sessions will be around the 5K distance, broken down into smaller chunks that you run at around race pace. This helps the body to make the necessary adaptations to run at this pace for a prolonged period.

5K Training Plan Week 1

1. Easy run 30min, plus strength and conditioning.

2. Interval session: 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min, 1min, 2min, 3min, 4min. Jog easy between each rep for the same amount of time that you just ran for, so 4min rep, then 4min jog and so on. Aim to run each rep at hard tempo pace, getting a little faster on the shorter reps.

3. Recovery run 40min, plus strength and conditioning Take your recovery runs very easy if you need to, or pick a pace between easy and steady if you’re feeling fine.

4. Hill session: 4 x 1min, 4 x 30sec uphill sprints with walk down recovery in between reps. The aim here is to build power and maintain high cadence [stride rate].

5. Steady run 50-60min.

5K Training Plan Week 2

1. Easy to steady progression run 30-40min. Start at an easy pace and make each mile a little faster, finishing at a steady pace – working hard, but not hitting threshold pace. Plus strength and conditioning.

2. Interval session: 3 x 2 miles with 3min recovery between efforts. Aim to run the efforts at around 5K-10K race pace with each one a little faster. Don’t blow the doors off on the first rep!

3. Recovery run 40min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Tempo run 20min. Warm up well, then get into a good hard rhythm at just below 5K pace. Work at controlled discomfort.

5. Steady run 50-60min.

5K Training Plan Week 3

1. Easy run 30min, plus strength and conditioning.

2. Interval session: 6-8 x 3min 30sec with 90sec recovery jog in between. Run at, or even slightly quicker than, 5K target pace. Then slow to a steady pace for the jog – it shouldn't be a really easy recovery, you need to keep moving at a decent pace.

3. Recovery run 40min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Track interval session: 8-10 x 400m with 90sec recovery. Aim to run these quicker than race pace. This is all about leg turnover and sticking to your target speed throughout – you’ll need it to run that PB!

5. Steady run 55-65min.

5K Training Plan Week 4

1. Easy run 35min, plus strength and conditioning.

2. Interval session: 5-6 x 1 mile with 2min recovery. This is a perfect race pace session. Make sure the first couple of reps aren’t crazy – it doesn’t matter if they’re just slower than race pace, you’ll make it up at the end.

3. Recovery run 40min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Hill session: 10 x 75sec uphill efforts with jog back down recovery. Don’t make these flat-out efforts but you should be in a tough tempo zone. Don’t expect to be fully recovered at the bottom – you should aim to run back down in 1min 45sec and then go again.

5. Steady run 55-65min.

5K Training Plan Week 5

1. Easy to steady progression run 40-45min. Start at an easy pace and make each mile a little faster, finishing at a steady pace – working hard, but not hitting threshold pace. Plus strength and conditioning.

2. Rest.

3. Recovery run 40min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Interval session: 5-6 x 800m, with 90sec recovery. Work hard in your threshold zone and finish strong, but don’t bury yourself.

5. Steady run 60-70min.

5K Training Plan Week 6

1. Easy run 45min, plus strength and conditioning.

2. Interval session: 2 x 3km with 3min rest in between. Aim to hit your expected race pace.

3. Recovery run 45min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Interval session: 3 x 3min, 4 x 2min, 5 x 1min. Recovery is the same as the last rep, so 3min rep, 3min recovery and so on. Start at race pace and try and get a little faster as the reps go on. Keep the recoveries steady. The 3min reps will feel easy, but don’t underestimate how the session will bite at the end.

5. Steady run 60-70min.

5K Training Plan Week 7

1. Easy run 50min, plus strength and conditioning.

2. Interval session: 3 x 2 miles with 2min recovery. Back to the same session from week two. Can you run the reps a little quicker with 1min less recovery?

3. Recovery run 50min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Tempo run 30min. Warm up well, then work at controlled discomfort at just below 5K pace.

5. Steady run 60-75min.

5K Training Plan Week 8

1. Easy to steady progression run 50min. Start at an easy pace and make each mile a little faster, finishing at a steady pace – working hard, but not hitting threshold pace. Plus strength and conditioning.

2. Rest.

3. Recovery run 50min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Interval session: 5-6 x 800m with 1min recovery.

5. Steady run 60-75min.

5K Training Plan Week 9

1. Easy run 45min.

2. Interval session: 6-8 x 1km, with 1min recovery. Hit your race pace and see if you can make the last few reps a little quicker.

3. Recovery run 45min, plus strength and conditioning.

4. Rest.

5. Steady run 50-60min.

5K Training Plan Week 10

By now you should know what works for you – don’t change it this week! If you’re not used to running two days in a row, this week is not the week to start, no matter what anybody else is doing.

1. Easy run 45min, plus strength and conditioning.

2. Race prep interval session: 3 x 1km at race pace with 1 minute recovery, followed by 3 x 100m strides – accelerate up to 80-90% of your top speed over the first quarter of the 100m sprint, hold that pace for the next two quarters, then decelerate over the final quarter. Walk back to the start between each stride for recovery.

3. Rest.

4. Easy run 30min.

5. Race day: go get that PB!

Photograph: Forestry England, Crown copyright

Running events have made a cautious return in the UK, but ongoing concerns about the pandemic have restricted them to fairly small races at locations like airfields which are easier to make COVID-secure.

Summer will be the earliest that we’ll see the return of bigger events, but even then signing up to a big city race carries more risk, as they may be the first on the chopping block if the situation deteriorates again, and you may feel uncomfortable attending mass-participation races. This makes smaller events attractive, and a new forest race series has cropped up at the perfect time.

The Forest Runner series, put together by Forestry England, consists of 10 events in forests all over England. Each event has a 5K and a 10K race to take part in, and each promises a scenic route that takes in some of the standout sights of that forest.

Starting on Sunday 12th September at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum in Gloucestershire, there will be an event most weekends until the final race in the Forest of Dean on Sunday 28th November.

The events promise a mix of flat and hilly routes, with different forest landmarks to spot along the way. The first race in the National Arboretum boasts an extensive botanical collection of trees and shrubs, the Whinlatter Forest race in Cumbria holds the promise of red squirrel sightings, and the High Lodge Forest event has the flattest route of the series, making it the best pick for those seeking a speedy time.

See related

• 5K Training: Plans, Race Day Tips And More
• 10K Training: Plans, Tips, Advice And More
• The Best Trail Running Shoes For 2021

You’ll find the full list of events below, and you can sign up on the Forestry England website. It costs £20 to enter a 5K and £22.50 for a 10K, plus booking fees, with all money raised by the events going to the local forests to help maintain and grow them.

The series is sponsored by Merrell, which is providing prizes for the races, as well as training tips and Strava challenges in the build up to the events.

The Forest Runner Series

• 12th September – Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire
• 19th September – Delamere Forest, Cheshire
• 26th September – Bedgebury Pinetum, Kent
• 10th October – Salcey Forest, Northamptonshire
• 17th October – Sherwood Pines Forest, Nottinghamshire
• 24th October – Hamsterley Forest, Durham
• 31st October – High Lodge, Thetford Forest, Suffolk
• 7th November – Whinlatter Forest, Cumbria
• 14th November – Cannock Forest, Staffordshire
• 28th November – Mallards Pike, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

Sign up | £20-£22.50

On Saturday 3rd April, Beth Potter ran a truly wondrous 14min 41sec at the Podium 5K event in Lancashire. That’s two seconds quicker than the current world road record for 5K, and 10 seconds faster than the British record.

Potter’s time is unlikely to be ratified owing to technicalities like the qualifications of the timekeeper at the event, which weren’t of a national standard, and the lack of a referee. None of that changes the fact she ran that outrageously good time, which was 43 seconds quicker than her previous PB.

With that in mind, we thought there would be no better person to ask for tips on how to improve a 5K time. Potter is a triathlete rather than a pure runner, which on the face of it only makes the time she ran more impressive. However, she thinks her cross-training has made all the difference to improving her running.

“I come from a track and field background but I’m currently doing triathlon,” says Potter. “Nothing has changed too much in terms of my run training. My interval session on a Tuesday and a longer tempo session on a Saturday are key for me, but I supplement it with a lot of cross-training. I think the things that have made the difference in my running times have been spending time in the pool and on the bike. The things that stick out for me is threshold work in the pool and then easy miles on the bike.”

If you’re looking to add in some cross-training along those lines, one tip Potter has is that cycling indoors can reduce the demands on your time. To get the same benefit from easy sessions, Potter says you have to spend twice the time cycling outdoors as you would running. “Using a static bike is good,” says Potter. “You don’t have to do as long on that, because it’s constant pedalling.”

With the threshold swims, you can get more done in less time, but be prepared to work.

“You keep the reps the same distance – maybe 200m – but it should be at an intensity or pace you can hold for half an hour to an hour,” says Potter. “Then you keep your recoveries really short – something like 10 to 15 seconds between reps.”

Back to running. We asked Potter what advice she had when it comes to interval sessions that will help you improve your 5K PB.

“My coach likes to mix it up for me, so I can do anything between 400m and 1,200m reps off fairly short recoveries,” says Potter. “I always try to get quicker towards the end of a session.”

Trying to ensure you can finish strong is also Potter’s advice when racing your 5K. Keep the 3km point of the race in mind at the start to avoid emptying the tank too soon. On race day it will also make a huge difference if you can run in a group of people.

“That’s part of the reason I asked to go in the quicker race [at the Podium 5k],” says Potter. “I knew that would push me. I knew it would be better to have people around me to drag me along than to be stuck in no man’s land and have no-one around me. That’s definitely important.”

See related

• Five Benefits Of Cross-Training
• Pro Tom Evans On The Benefits Of Cross-Training For Runners
• Four-Week 5K Training Plan for a New PB – Fitbit Fifty Reader Challenge
• The Best Carbon Plate Running Shoes Of 2021

Potter ran her 5K in the new Asics Metaspeed Sky carbon plate racing shoe. By now it’s no secret that these shoes can help you set new PBs, but Potter suggests you shouldn’t underestimate the benefits they can have for recovery times as well.

“I’ve found I recover much faster off the back of races,” says Potter. “Before, my legs would be really sore and DOMS-y, and I’d be tired for a couple of days – but I was able to get up the next day and go out for a four-hour ride. I’ve had a pretty normal week this week, and that’s to do with the new midsole foam and carbon plate.”

Find out more about the Asics Metaspeed Sky on the Asics website

The weather is getting better and there are hopeful signs that the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown is going to plan. That means now is the perfect time to line up an achievable outdoor fitness goal for April, and if you can pick one that also raises money for charity then so much the better.

Cancer Research UK usually holds Race For Life events throughout the year, but with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to disrupt plans, the charity’s live events have all been postponed until autumn. In their place comes Race for Life at Home, which asks you to walk, jog or run 5K during the month of April – and you can do it wherever you like.

Anyone can take part in the event, either solo or with a friend (following all government guidelines of course). It costs £5 to enter and you’ll get a fundraising pack and a medal. You can complete your 5K at any point in April, but there is also a live stream event on Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life Facebook page on Saturday 24th April. This includes what’s described as an “energiser” from a fitness expert, which could fix any motivation problems you might be facing.

See related

• Running For Beginners: Free Couch To 5K Plan
• The None To Run Running App Is An Easier Alternative To Couch To 5K
• The Best Budget Running Shoes Of 2021

If you’re planning on starting a Couch to 5K course, or have already begun one, we reckon this is the perfect way to finish it off in style. And if you’re experienced at running the distance, you could consider this a time trial challenge and find a nice flat course to hammer out a speedy 5K.

Cancer Research UK expects to suffer a £300m drop in income over the next three years owing to the pandemic, so any funds you can raise to support its lifesaving work are vital.

You can sign up for Race for Life At Home now on the event website. While you’re there you can also check out the live event schedule for later in the year, when races are expected to return.

Sign-up | £5

Running five kilometres without stopping is a great goal to have. It’s a target that only requires a pair of trainers, can be done anywhere and is something that almost anyone can achieve in a couple of months. Along the way you’ll also enjoy clear signs of how much you are improving your fitness, as you find that you’re able to run further every week, along with the other benefits of running.

It’s true that the first couple of times you run are probably not going to be that enjoyable because your body’s not used to it. But the good news is that your body will adapt in next to no time. This 5K training plan builds up the amount of running you do very slowly so your body can acclimatise gradually and you don’t have to worry that your legs will be too stiff to walk the next day. If you keep at it for a couple of months it is absolutely certain – and this is a 100%, take-it-to-the-bank guarantee – that you will start to enjoy running. You might even become addicted.

There are lots of great ways to work towards a first 5K. You can download one of the many couch-to-5K apps available or check in with your local running club to see if they put on any beginner’s training groups working towards a 5K. They almost certainly will, and this is perhaps the best way of all to start running, because you’ll be doing it with a group of like-minded beginners embarking on the same journey as you, guided by experienced runners who will be able to answer any questions you might have.

If you do want to fly solo, then another truly excellent way to build up to your first 5K is to follow this eight-week training plan.

8-Week Couch To 5K Training Plan

This couch to 5K plan is designed by running coach Ed Kerry and is based around three sessions a week. You can space these sessions out however you like, although it’s probably wise to aim for at least one rest day between them.

Pin Or Print This Couch To 5K Plan

Each week the first session is a mix of running and walking in repeated intervals. For example, in week one you run for 30 seconds then walk for 30 seconds, with the pattern repeated 15 times.

The easiest way to follow this session is to use an interval timer. There are plenty to choose from, but we recommend Seconds Pro Interval Timer, which has both Apple App Store and Google Play apps available. It’s easy to set the interval times and how many times you repeat the sequence, and the app works in the background so you can lock your phone and pop it in your pocket (or running armband, or running belt). It will also alert you using audio (through headphones if you wish) when the interval changes. All of the above is free, and the only thing you have to pay for is the ability to reuse a session, which requires a paid upgrade. If you’re happy to spend 30 seconds making each session from scratch then you’re all set.

The second session each week is simply a case of running or walking for a certain amount of time, with the mix entirely up to you.

In the third session of each week you’ll be covering 5K every time. For the first few weeks it will all be walking, but from week four you start to reduce the amount of walking and increase the distance you run by a kilometre each week until you’re ready to run the entire thing at the end of week eight.

To ensure you run the right distance, you can either keep tabs as you go with a free GPS tracker on your phone like Strava, or plan ahead using Map My Run’s route builder to work out where on a route you can stop running and start walking.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Once you’ve done that, you might want to join a friendly group 5K like parkrun, or check out our 10K training plans.

Running For Beginners FAQs

The Best Free Running Apps For Beginners

Strava

The best run-tracking app out there. Strava will use the GPS signal on your phone (or fitness tracker if you have one that does that) to accurately log the route and speed of your runs. It’s also so popular you may well find some friends already use it, and once you’ve connected in the app you can start sending each other kudos for your activities.

Download from App Store and Google Play

MapMyRun

MapMyRun is another great run tracking app that excels at route planning. Open the app wherever you are in the world and you can load local routes other runners have created and follow one on your phone during your run. We bet there’ll be plenty of 5K routes near you so you need not get bored doing the same circuit over and over again when following the plan below.

Download from App Store and Google Play

Running Heroes

Running is its own reward, but if you want to earn some more tangible ones with the kilometres you’re racking up, download Running Heroes. It links to apps like tracking apps like Strava and Fitbit, then converts the distance you cover into points that you can redeem for discounts on running gear and races.

Download from App Store and Google Play

None To Run

If you start the couch to 5K plan and find it too hard, or have been unable to complete one in the past, you should know that you are far from alone. Some find a typical couch to 5K plan ramps up the difficulty too quickly and a gentler introduction to running is required.

The None To Run plan has been created as an easier alternative. The plan builds up more slowly and uses time goals, rather than hitting a certain distance in each session. It also includes strength exercises that can help reduce your risk of injury when you start running.

You can download the plan for free on the None To Run website, and there’s also a paid-for app for the iPhone and Apple Watch that will guide you through each run (£4.99 a month or £29.49 a year).

When you take up running, a 5K is the natural target event to have in mind, not only because it’s the shortest standard mass-participation race, but also because it’s the easiest to enter – especially since parkrun has brought free, timed 5K group runs to locations all over the UK every Saturday morning.

But a 5K is not only an event for beginners – if you’re an advanced runner looking to trim some time off your PB at any distance, sharpening up your speed over 5K is a great place to start.

5K Training Plans

An 8-Week Couch To 5K Training Plan For Everyone

Nothing will ruin running for you like trying to do too much too soon, so this beginner plan designed by running coach Ed Kerry mixes up running and walking until, after eight weeks, you’ll be more than ready to run 5K. See the plan.

A 10-Week 5K Training Plan For A Personal Best

No matter what your current PB is, this plan put together by Saucony UK athlete Ieuan Thomas and his coach James Thie will help you best it. Each week comprises of five runs which are all based on, or are exact copies of, sessions that Thomas uses. Don’t worry, you won’t have to train at an elite level, just add in one new type of session from the plan to what you’re already doing each week and you’ll soon see improvements. See the plan.

How To Train For A 5K

John Brewer, author of Run Smart, gives his tips on how to build the endurance and speed required for the shortest race distance.

How much training do you need to do?

It depends on your starting point, but two to three sessions a week should work for most people, and will enable you to build up first the time spent running, then the distance. If this is your first time attempting the distance, you need to build up gradually, running a similar distance or only slightly longer in each session, and including faster interval sessions to improve leg speed and recovery. For more experienced runners attempting a faster time, higher mileage and regular interval running will improve your ability to tolerate lactic acid as well as increasing oxygen uptake capacity.

How should you split up your sessions?

You need a mix of steady running to develop endurance and leg strength, alongside interval sessions to improve lactate tolerance, leg speed and recovery.

What’s the most important session?

The hard interval session, which includes fast repetitions and short recovery times. It will be the toughest session of the week but it touches on all the aspects of fitness that are needed for 5K running: high tempo for leg speed, short recovery for lactic acid tolerance, and fast stride rate for leg speed and strength.

How do you get faster?

By running faster and by developing leg power. So high-tempo training sessions that develop leg speed are important, and strength work such as hill running or plyometric training will also help to develop leg power and speed. But it’s worth bearing in mind that a good aerobic capacity is still essential, since without this any runner will be too fatigued to produce fast leg speed.

Where do most people go wrong?

A common mistake is to focus on distance alone and forget that higher-intensity, shorter-duration training can be just as beneficial. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone of steady-state running is essential if you’re going to improve.

What do elite runners do that everyone can learn from?

They mix intensity with volume, and also use races as a means of gaining and maintaining fitness, accepting that their best performances will come at a later date. Building in a rest day, which allows the body to recover and adapt to the stimulus of training, is also a common component of an elite athlete’s training diary.

How To Avoid Injury

Although 5K runners are less likely to pick up an injury than those training for a marathon, simply due to the greater amount of distance you have to cover when preparing for the latter, common running injuries like achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, runner’s knee and shin splints can still be an issue.

The most common cause of running injuries is increasing the amount of training you are doing suddenly, especially if you are doing a lot more high-speed running to prep for a 5K PB attempt. If you are a complete beginner it’s definitely worth following a structured couch to 5K plan to make sure you don’t overdo it; if you are already a regular runner don’t suddenly ramp up your weekly mileage to prep for an event, or do three track sessions in a week having never done them before.

A good rule of thumb for a casual runner is to work out your average weekly distance across the past four weeks, then add 2-4km to that each week if you want to increase your total running at a manageable rate. When doing speed sessions make sure you leave adequate time to recover afterwards, and definitely don’t do two speed runs back-to-back if it’s something you're not used to – easy, recovery runs are a must.

The Running Gear You Need For A 5K

As with all running, the key bit of gear for a 5K is a good pair of running shoes. If you’re new to running it’s worth trying gait analysis (available for free in many running shops) to see which type of shoes suit you best. You might overpronate (where your foot rolls excessively inwards when it lands) or underpronate (the foot doesn’t roll far enough), or you may be a neutral runner in the Goldilocks zone between the two.

Whatever gait analysis tells you, there will be a huge number of options to pick between. For 5K running you don’t need huge amount of cushioning on your trainer, which is useful in protecting the body when covering long distances in marathon training. With that said, if you enjoy the comfortable ride of a highly cushioned shoe, go for it. A lightweight racing shoe might be slightly faster over 5K, but it’s only going to make a big difference if you’re a real speed demon trying to shave seconds off your PB.

For 5K running, all other gear is just a matter of preference. You don’t need to carry any food or water with you, and chafing isn’t a concern because you won't be running for hours on end. Wear whatever feels good – a football shirt, a parkrun souvenir T-shirt, a Mr Blobby costume… it’s up to you.

Race Day Tips

The mistake most runners make with any running event is to go out too fast. A 5K might seem a short race on the start line, but it starts to feel very long indeed if you cane the first kilometre. When running with other people you will inevitably start faster than you should but, after a couple of hundred metres, force yourself to rein it in. You may feel like you’re losing time – but you’ll get it back by finishing strong.

Make sure you warm up, ideally by running a couple of kilometres at a gentle pace beforehand if you are PB hunting.

If you’re doing a parkrun for the first time, try to scout the route on the website – a surprise hill at the 4km mark can really hit hard, as can a slippery stretch of muddy track when you were expecting a Tarmac-only run.

For those brave enough to do the Fitbit Fifty, the running sections will be a welcome break from the saddle – a chance to stretch their legs and take in the scenery of London, Yorkshire and Edinburgh. But as the distances involved are fairly short, they’ll still be tackling these sections at a decent pace, something runners can sometimes neglect in their training.

“If you fancy a four-week challenge, a good aim is to increase your pace, not the distance you run,” says Intelligent Running coach George Anderson, who put together the four-week plan below. “Radically upping the volume you do is an invitation to injury, but upping the intensity of your sessions will let you go harder and faster, and improve rapidly.”

This plan – aimed at runners who can already manage 45 minutes of non-stop running at a moderate pace – will help you run your fastest 5K with three days of training a week (allowing time for conditioning sessions in the gym, if you want).

If you’ve got a heart-rate monitor like the Fitbit Surge, it will help. “Pace isn’t always the best metric for sessions like hill training,” says experienced triathlete and Fitbit ambassador Mike Vulanich. “Because the pace will be slower and less familiar, I’ll typically swipe over to heart rate, which is a more objective metric of effort.”

Here’s the plan to get you into your best ever 5K shape.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Getting up at 6.45am on a Sunday in January isn’t usually MF’s idea of fun, but today is different. We’ve been invited to join Kevin Hart, star of Get Hard and the new Ride Along 2, on the first leg of his challenge to run 5K in 15 countries in 2016. He greets us, smiling and laughing, and any early morning grumbles soon evaporate.

Tell us about Move With Hart.

Of course, people know me for being an incredible actor and hilarious comedian, but I also love to train and I wanted to share that with people too. It’s only right to take things to another level and engage my fans to train with me. It was a spontaneous thing when I started inviting fans to do 5Ks while I was in their cities performing. That spontaneous thing just grew and grew, and then grew some more.

And Nike’s involvement?

They saw what I was doing and wanted a slice of the action! We developed a partnership, which was simply about motivating people to come out and better themselves. Through social media it’s grown into a global…

Phenomenon?

I was going to say collaboration, but yeah, let’s go with phenomenon.

And that relationship with Nike has grown too…

Yeah, I’ve been a supporter of theirs for a long time. I’m a sneakerhead, man! And what respectable sneaker-loving guy wouldn’t want to work with them? Just think of all the free shoes I’ll get now.

RECOMMENDED: Best Road Running Shoes for 2016

You’ve got your own shoe, right?

That’s right – the Hustle Hart is coming to a store near you this April.

How much of an input did you have in its creation?

A lot, man. They allowed me to bring my ideas to this thing we wanted to do, which was to design a shoe for fitness, not style. It looks awesome, and it’s not a celebrity shoe designed to be exclusive, limited edition or anything like that. It’s a multi-purpose shoe. It fits all my needs, and I do a bunch of stuff: running, jumping, lifting. You name it, I do it.

Sounds great…

It is, and what’s really exciting is that because of Move With Hart, other people are going to be able to start this physical fitness journey at the same pace I do, in the same shoe I’m wearing.

RECOMMENDED: Running Events to Sign Up To

Did you get to go to Nike HQ?

Yes. I’ve been there. I’ve been in the TOP SECRET headquarters, and no, I can’t discuss what I saw. They blindfold you, put a hood over your head, spin you around 20 times, then put you in the door. That’s what happens.

You told US talk show host Jimmy Fallon you want to “inspire people to become the best versions of themselves through physical fitness”. How is Move With Hart making that happen?

It’s happening at every event with the people showing up. We’re not getting world-class athletes, we’re getting everyday individuals who need a kick-start. The beauty is that it genuinely brings people together. Physical fitness, and especially running, is something we can all dive into. It grabs all races, ethnicities, shapes and sizes. As a unit you all achieve greatness, no matter how fast or slow you are. There’s an athlete in all of us. You just gotta discover it.

RECOMMENDED: Running Tips for Beginners

What kicked off the discovery for you?

Being in movies meant being in a position to be seen, and I thought it was only fair that I maximise my potential for the people who pay money to see me on a big screen. I thought, if I can look the part then I’ll really be the part. It started off as just getting into shape for a role but eventually it became a lifestyle.

Your latest movie, Ride Along 2, is an action comedy. Do you want to make the jump to fully fledged action hero?

I’m slowly jumping into that realm. As I get older I’m going to do different things. Comedy will eventually give way to action, the action will move to drama and then I’ll come back to comedy… then I’ll do animation! I have a lot of different doors that I could open. Right now I’m toying with which doors to walk through.

You’ve played comedy shows to tens of thousands of people. How do you psych yourself up to stand out there, just you and a microphone?

There’s no routine at all. I think that’s what people would love the most if they actually saw what I do before a show. I make people laugh for a living and I love it – why be nervous about it?

Surely your first stand–up set was a bit nerve-wracking?

I was never nervous. Awful, but never nervous – there’s a difference. The first time I did it, I was in love with the lights and the fact that people were listening to what I was saying. Granted I didn’t give them much to listen to, but it didn’t matter.

So even if the people in the audience are not laughing, it’s fine?

Yeah, because they’re here and they’re listening to me. But of course that’s the end goal. Laughing is like fitness – one of those things we all share as people. I don’t care where you’re from, I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what race you are. Everybody laughs. If you can bring laughter on a universal level, you have separated yourself from the pack. This is my calling: to bring people closer together, to bring joy to people. I see my audiences as people I’m about to bring joy to, like what we’re doing here today. A shared experience that everyone comes away from happier.

The run is about to start, so we head to the heart of Battersea Park. Hart makes a speech in which he jokingly threatens to elbow the foreheads of any children who are thinking of giving up mid-event, before getting serious and encouraging people to help if they see anyone struggling. It’s genuinely funny and motivating, and after he’s finished speaking, there isn’t a single person here who regrets getting up so early on a Sunday morning. I line up alongside Hart, with just time for another quick chat before the start.

What’s your 5K time look like?

My best or today?

Today. Just wondering if we’ll be able to keep up?

This morning’s going to be slower, probably around 21-22 minutes. Besides, this isn’t a race. Unless I win, obviously.

Everyone sets off and there’s a palpable buzz of energy as runners clamour to jog alongside a Hollywood star, or just gawp for a few seconds as Hart’s ever-growing entourage goes past. Once he’s finished, Hart high fives everyone who crosses the line after him and gives the last person a hug. Another great speech and a group selfie later, Hart disappears into the grey London morning flanked by security. It’s barely 10am, but the day has already been way better than any Sunday has a right to be.

Find out more about the NRC community’s weekly run clubs and the Nike+ Running App at nike.com/london.

RECOMMENDED: Common Running Injuries for the Park Runner and What to Do About Them