Guide
5K pace chart and finish-time calculator
Use this 5K pace chart and calculator to find pace per km and mile, kilometer splits, and treadmill speed for a 20, 25, 30-minute or custom finish.
5K run contest
- Winner
- Fastest time
- Measured in
- Time
- Boards
- Gym, city, country, world
Your fastest 5 km on a treadmill at 1% incline, filmed in one take with the console in view. The time on the console when it reads 5.00 km is your result, ranked on your gym, city, country and world boards at once.
The rules
What counts
- A treadmill with the incline set to 1% or more for the whole run.
- The console starts at 0.00 km and the take runs until it reads 5.00 km.
- You can change the speed as often as you like during the run.
- Short steps onto the side rails are fine if the belt keeps running and the clock never stops.
What doesn’t count
- Holding the handrails or the console while running.
- Pausing the treadmill, or a console that is out of view at the start or finish.
- Incline below 1%, or a decline setting.
How to film it
- Film from the side and slightly behind, with your whole body and the console screen in frame.
- Start recording before you press start, so the console reads zero in the take.
- Make sure the distance and time on the screen are readable on the video.
A 5K is the distance most people run first, and the one they keep trying to beat. Comparing times is usually messy: different routes, different watches, a downhill finish. Here everyone runs the same 5 km, under the same camera, at the same incline.
How it works
Pick a treadmill, set the incline to 1% and prop your phone so it sees you and the console. Press record, then start the belt and run. Change the pace whenever you want. When the console shows 5.00 km, the elapsed time on screen is your result, and you can stop recording once it is in the take.
Your time is ranked on every board you qualify for: your gym, your city, your country and the world, plus brackets for age group and sex. A 52-year-old running their first sub 30 can sit near the top of their bracket while someone half their age chases a city record.
Who checks the time
The app runs an automatic check that the video is unbroken and that the console reads from zero to 5.00 km. Other people can flag a take that looks wrong, for example if a hand rests on the rail. If your time lands in a top 10 or sets a record, a referee watches the start and the finish, reads the console and checks the incline before it is verified. If it is not counted you get the reason and the moment in the video, and you can appeal to a different referee.
Getting your time down
Use the 5K pace chart and calculator to convert a goal finish time into pace per kilometer or mile, cumulative splits and treadmill speed.
Most of the gain comes from running more easy kilometres each week, at a pace where you can still talk. Add one faster session, such as a few repeats of 1 km at your goal pace with a short jog between them. Raise your weekly distance slowly, and try the full 5K again after a month.
Questions
Why a treadmill and not an outdoor run?
A treadmill fits a single camera and gives everyone the same distance. GPS on a road run can be out by tens of metres, and nobody can film 5 km of road from one spot.
Does the treadmill brand matter?
No. Any treadmill counts as long as its console shows distance in kilometres and elapsed time on screen through the whole take.
Why 1% incline?
A slight incline makes treadmill running closer to running outside, and setting one figure for everyone keeps the board fair.
Read more about 5k run
Guide
Free Strava alternatives for running and cycling
Find a free Strava alternative for running or cycling. Compare five apps, their free features, paid limits, device needs and activity-data exports.
Records and rankings
Everyone is first somewhere
How fitness leaderboards rank every take at once: gym, city, country and world, by age group, sex and weight class, this week or all time.
