How I ran an 80% age-graded 5km parkrun

An 80% age-graded parkrun finish is hard for mere mortals like us.

Unless you’ve had a history of running when younger, I reckon 80% represents just about the maximum that a normal person can hope to achieve. Your super-fit mate at the gym or on the local football team almost certainly won’t be able to do an 80% age-graded time without run-specific training.

Age-graded times are the great leveller. That annoyingly fast kid from next door might be able to smash your best 5k time and do 17:30 without sweating but he’s probably ‘only’ doing a 73-74% age-graded performance.

Similarly, if you’re a woman you can point out to your husband that you’re better than him with a higher AG percentage even if he might be faster.

Or you could treat the whole thing as self-motivation or a bit of fun.

Background

I’ve run well over 100 parkruns and started well over 15 years ago, sometimes taking 5k running seriously but more often getting distracted by triathlon. parkrun is essentially what got me started on this blog.

An interim goal

Many people seem keen to break the 20:00 barrier and for many people that can be easy enough but age and sex affect how easy or difficult that might be. Most people under 40 should be able to do 20:00 although some will need much more committed training than others to get there.

The Good Guys

If you want to hear the thoughts of runners in a different league to you and me, check out Mike Trees’ views on running parkrun with this interview for this site a few years ago (this article). Mike has a 95% age-graded time, recently attempted the age-graded 5k world record and has won international multisport events.

parkrun masterclass – Mike Trees on parkrun, training and STRYD

So, Exactly How Did I run an 80% age-graded 5km parkrun?

I regularly ran at that sort of level over 10 years ago. But after many years of not taking parkrun seriously, I did it again last year and found it relatively straightforward but certainly not easy.

Here’s how.

I cut back on my swimming last year and spent much of my time training for longer-distance cycling events whilst also keeping in at running. Towards the back end of the year, I decided to do a GB age group duathlon qualifier as a test to perhaps take Duatlon more seriously again this year or next year. For the duathlon, I had about 6 weeks of more focused training where I specifically added faster running. Unsurprisingly I got faster as a result.

The duathlon race decision was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I had a relatively short period to prepare for the race distance which involved 8km of running and 20km of cycling. So the run part of my training was more 10k/10-mile focussed than 5k-specific. However, it just so happened that I included the parkrun around the peak week of my duathlon training and just before I started to taper properly for that race.

The Simple Truth: Treat It Seriously, Like A Race

I’m not good enough to be able to rack up at an event and pop out an 80% AG-parkrun time, it needs preparation. I had to ensure that I eased off my training for 3 days before the big day and that my nutrition and supplementation were sensible. Essentially treating it like a B race. Specifically, I did these

• Slept properly and as fully as possible for the week before the event adjusting my wake time to the same time on race day. I woke up early on race day to complete my morning bodily routines and arrive unstressed.
• Sports massage and extensive Powerdot use 5ish days before the race. I removed all my aches and niggles and face my body time to recover.
• A positive, results-focused mindset leading up to the race and on race day.
• Beetroot (dietary nitrates), caffeine, Creatine, CurraNZ, L-theanine, L-Arginine and beta-alanine supplementation on the day and leading up to it where appropriate.
• Wear your best shoes – I used Nike AlphaFly
• Choose a good day – it just so happened that on my chosen Saturday there was no wind, it wasn’t too hot and the ground was firm. Before I started tapering I ensured the weather forecast was favourable.
• Fully and properly warmed up, finishing with plenty of time before the race
• Pace evenly: my first 4 splits showed a target pace +/-4seconds/km, with the last km at 8secs/km faster than the achieved average pace. (I was targeting power) I would say that was relatively poor pacing by historical standards.

General Tips

Ultimately you’ll have to run a lot to get a lot faster and you can achieve that with several broad strategies. However, you have to do any of them in a way that you enjoy otherwise you’ll find it very difficult to motivate yourself for the months or years of training you’ll need.

It’s good to fully understand exactly how good you are today to determine a plan for the years or months ahead. As good a starting place as any is to get a 5k parkrun PB this weekend. Just do everything right and eek every last second out of your body. Plan from that performance onwards.

Try the following post for some tips on getting a 5k parkrun PB. Many of which are serious ones (some, less so). As it’s Winter you might want to find a local running track which you could probably pay a small fee to use or even use for free. You’ll go faster on a track and the ground is guaranteed to be firm…unlike parkrun

Good luck!

How to get a parkrun PB – Top *100* Tips for your best 5K time PB PR