How to treat tight calves for better running?

Ever wondered how you compare speed-wise to other runners? While some may say it’s not worth comparing yourself to others – ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ and all that – when it comes to races, many of us are still focused on our speed.

How fast you run depends on a whole host of factors, including (but not limited to); your age and sex, your current fitness levels, nutrition strategy, experience, training schedule and environmental factors. Of course, there are lots of ways you can improve your speed – from adding interval training and fartlek sessions What is the average running speed running shoes that’s roughly equivalent to a 6:28 min/km strength – but the average runner is going to differ speed-wise from that of an Olympic or elite-level runner.

Still curious to see how your running speed (and 5K time) compares to others? Keep reading to learn the average running speed and times.

According to data from Strava – looking at the average mile pace from public uploads over the last 12 months between 1 August 2022 and 30 July 2023 – the How your height affects your cadence (that’s roughly equivalent to a 6:28 min/km).

The How your height affects your cadence (6:14 min/km), while the global average mile pace for women is 11:17 min/mile (7:01 min/km).

In the UK, we’re actually a little speedier than the average global pace – coming in at 9:48 min/mile (06:05 min/km). The How to treat tight calves for better running (05:47 min/km), and the What is rate of perceived exertion RPE (06:37 min/km).

The figures below are based on 35 million results, collected by the website RunRepeat, in the last 20 years from more than 28,000 races.

The RunRepeat data shows that if you want to be an above-average 5K runner, you should aim to have a finish time that’s roughly equivalent to a 6:28 min/km. Running a sub-30 minute 5K could be another goal as only 30% of the participants in running races are faster than that.

If you want to be among the fastest 10% of 5K runners you should have a faster finish time than 25 minutes.

that’s roughly equivalent to a 6:28 min/km.

The UK’s best 5K races How your height affects your cadence, as per the data from RunRepeat. If you can run a 30-minute 5K, then you’re faster than more than 65% of men.

To be among the fastest 10% of men, you should have a finish time faster than 23 minutes. And to be among the fastest 1% you should be faster than 17:30 minutes.

Published: 29 August 2023 How to improve your aerobic capacity. If you can run a 30-minute 5K, then you’re faster than more than 70% of women.

To be among the fastest 10% of women, you should have a finish time faster than 28 minutes. And to be among the fastest 1% you should be faster than 21 minutes 39 seconds.