The Student Room Group

Time taken to run 3KM ?

Hey folks,
I was at the gym today and its been almost half a year since I did any sort of decent exercise.
I managed to just finish 3km in 21 minutes with a good amount of effort.:frown: (I had it set to incline)
I thought it was decent at the time but apparently anything above 12 minutes to run 3km is poor.
Your views, what time should I be aiming for through practice ?
Reply 1
Hi there.
I'm currently training to do the 10km for Sport Relief in March, just to help you put this into some better context the usual winners of Sport Relief 10km finish in around 35-40mins, these are the fittest people on the day, so by the formula you have heard of "anything above 12mins to run 3km is poor" if you add a little bit more 3km is essentially a third of a 10k and so 3(km) x 12(mins) = 36(mins), so by this logic you're going by or something has told you to go by it is that of potentially one of the fittest people on the day of thousands running for Sport Relief, seems like a pretty harsh grade to go by, do you catch my drift?

I'm running 3 times a week now and mixing up my on/off, so I run for a set amount of time and then rest(fastwalk/light jog) for a set amount of time and repeat for 25 minutes. In 25 minutes I usually do around 3.40km, this is about a third of what I will need to do to complete my 10km run for Sport Relief.

The time it takes is not bothering me, it is that I am fit enough to make sure I do the full 10km in a steady pace. So I'm aiming for an hour, I would like to do it in around an hour and I'd be pretty happy with that.

I think whatever you should be aiming for depends on what you are trying to accomplish, I am trying to increase my general fitness and stamina, sure timing myself helps me keep track but if I were you I wouldn't put so much emphasis on how quick you are.

If you want a straight answer, seeing as your a bit out of the exercise thing (I was too until recently) I'd recommend doing what I do, 3 runs a week and change how you run, for example run fast pace for 1 minute then rest(quickwalk/light jog) for 1 and a half minute, or run very hard for 30 secs rest for 2 minutes, or run fast pace for 2 minutes and rest for 3 minutes..
If you keep mixing it up you'll find your fitness increase quickly because it's giving your lungs and heart a really good workout, getting that heart rate up and then bringing it down really works it well and you'll see quick improvements like I have!

DON'T be disheartened by other peoples fitness, muscles or knowledge; use it all to inspire you into getting to exactly where you want to be too!

Hope this helped bud!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by joebloom
Hi there.
I'm currently training to do the 10km for Sport Relief in March, just to help you put this into some better context the usual winners of Sport Relief 10km finish in around 35-40mins, these are the fittest people on the day, so by the formula you have heard of "anything above 12mins to run 3km is poor" if you add a little bit more 3km is essentially a third of a 10k and so 3(km) x 12(mins) = 36(mins), so by this logic you're going by or something has told you to go by it is that of potentially one of the fittest people on the day of thousands running for Sport Relief, seems like a pretty harsh grade to go by, do you catch my drift?

I'm running 3 times a week now and mixing up my on/off, so I run for a set amount of time and then rest(fastwalk/light jog) for a set amount of time and repeat for 25 minutes. In 25 minutes I usually do around 3.40km, this is about a third of what I will need to do to complete my 10km run for Sport Relief.

The time it takes is not bothering me, it is that I am fit enough to make sure I do the full 10km in a steady pace. So I'm aiming for an hour, I would like to do it in around an hour and I'd be pretty happy with that.

I think whatever you should be aiming for depends on what you are trying to accomplish, I am trying to increase my general fitness and stamina, sure timing myself helps me keep track but if I were you I wouldn't put so much emphasis on how quick you are.

If you want a straight answer, seeing as your a bit out of the exercise thing (I was too until recently) I'd recommend doing what I do, 3 runs a week and change how you run, for example run fast pace for 1 minute then rest(quickwalk/light jog) for 1 and a half minute, or run very hard for 30 secs rest for 2 minutes, or run fast pace for 2 minutes and rest for 3 minutes..
If you keep mixing it up you'll find your fitness increase quickly because it's giving your lungs and heart a really good workout, getting that heart rate up and then bringing it down really works it well and you'll see quick improvements like I have!

DON'T be disheartened by other peoples fitness, muscles or knowledge; use it all to inspire you into getting to exactly where you want to be too!

Hope this helped bud!


Thanks very much for the reply :smile:

The high intensity interval training method is great I hear like you mentioned so I will start putting more emphasis on it at the gym. Thing is, if I really push myself with the faster run i fond that I can only run for two jog to run cycles whereas of its a decently paced jog I can run for longer.

What incline do you usually work on at the gym?

Best of luck on your sport relief efforts :smile:
It's better than the average member of the British public could do so I wouldn't worry about it. When I first completed a 5k I did it in 30 minutes. These days I do it in about 25 minutes. My best ever 2.4k (1.5 miles) was 10 minutes. Some people can do those times a hell of a lot faster, but I don't really care as I have no need to beat those times and running is not a primary goal for me.

Train for whatever your goal is, as long as you can do a cardio session for 30 minutes, or complete a 5k run now and then, you will always be healthy.
Reply 4
It's not the best time but who cares? Nobody starts off at the top so keep at it and you'l progress quicker than you think. You shouldn't compare your achievements with those of other people. Persistence is key :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by dignityinclay
Thanks very much for the reply :smile:

The high intensity interval training method is great I hear like you mentioned so I will start putting more emphasis on it at the gym. Thing is, if I really push myself with the faster run i fond that I can only run for two jog to run cycles whereas of its a decently paced jog I can run for longer.

What incline do you usually work on at the gym?

Best of luck on your sport relief efforts :smile:


No worries. I think most find that once they get a steady rhythm you can run for longer rather than with bursts, both achieve different things. I'm doing bursts mostly and then one full 30 minute around 1/6 runs.

I am only just starting to add incline where I see appropriate, such as 30 sec bursts which are short so I amp up the incline to make it harder.

Thank you for your well wishes this is just the beginning for me one day I aim to do a marathon!
Original post by mikestrawsR
It's better than the average member of the British public could do so I wouldn't worry about it. When I first completed a 5k I did it in 30 minutes. These days I do it in about 25 minutes. My best ever 2.4k (1.5 miles) was 10 minutes. Some people can do those times a hell of a lot faster, but I don't really care as I have no need to beat those times and running is not a primary goal for me.

Train for whatever your goal is, as long as you can do a cardio session for 30 minutes, or complete a 5k run now and then, you will always be healthy.


Good advice.
Reply 6
Original post by mikestraws
It's better than the average member of the British public could do so I wouldn't worry about it. When I first completed a 5k I did it in 30 minutes. These days I do it in about 25 minutes. My best ever 2.4k (1.5 miles) was 10 minutes. Some people can do those times a hell of a lot faster, but I don't really care as I have no need to beat those times and running is not a primary goal for me.

Train for whatever your goal is, as long as you can do a cardio session for 30 minutes, or complete a 5k run now and then, you will always be healthy.


Great advice from you too :smile:

You have a good level of fitness. Do you think that light weight training will help in developing running speed and stamina?
Reply 7
It'll help massively to do weight training on your legs and back as this will help in being able to support yourself for longer (sounds daft but works!). I usually tab across sand dunes with a pack on and also do road cycling and swimming. These all help with load bearing and lung efficiency and capacity. Maybe just try a month at your local pool.
I tend to start with 10 lengths fast pace warm up then another 10 steady pace, finishing off with 2 lengths with a kick board (for leg muscles) 2 with leg float (arms) and then 2 without. And keep repeating until you reach 32 lengths (half mile).
3k is 1.8 miles.
An army fitness test was jog 1.5 miles in exactly 15 mins.
Then turn round and run back the same route under 12 mins.
Route may be up and down but not too steep.

It used to be done in boots, but changed to trainers when the return time was reduced by a minute.
(edited 7 years ago)
This is a 5 year old thread.
Reply 10
I don't know if it is poor but I'm 14 and won my cross country of 3km in 11:03 mins but kids were running it in 15 later I got 9 in my reginal championship with11:00 that with lots of training so by no means is 21 mins with no traingin bad just not to the top pest of levels
well I'm a fit 12 year old and I can run 3km in under 12 minutes so
Original post by dignityinclay
Hey folks,
I was at the gym today and its been almost half a year since I did any sort of decent exercise.
I managed to just finish 3km in 21 minutes with a good amount of effort.:frown: (I had it set to incline)
I thought it was decent at the time but apparently anything above 12 minutes to run 3km is poor.
Your views, what time should I be aiming for through practice ?


Well Im a fit 12 year old and I can run a 3km in under 12 minutes so
Hey guys im Brandon Ford and im the fastest U16 over in Australia for 3km with a time of 8mins and 50secs hahahaha dont believe me follow my insta... brando_rocks333 and my snapchat... bford912 thanks guys and remember my name is Brandon Ford soon to be going to the youth commonwealth games.
hahahaha thats pretty slow
Original post by brando_rocks333
hahahaha thats pretty slow


Come back to us when you've run sub 8:40 champ.
The time you should be aiming for is faster. Just a little faster- aim to beat yourself and your own times and improve a little week on week. If you're just getting back into fitness then don't worry about how fast you are at the moment- the fact you can actually run 3K is more than a lot of people can do. If you up your target every week (say aim to run 20s faster, or run half a Km further) then you'll improve

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