I’ve never managed it, well not since 7 or 8 years ago. I can run 5k quite comfortably now but I’m not any quicker than 38mins and my 6k runs have taken me 46 mins. This is no big deal of course, but work commitments would welcome a quicker run 😄.
Any tips?
My tip is to always make runs happy - to get under 30min from 38 sounds like a big ask and a lot of dedication. With work pressures and lockdown would happy runs be an idea? Maybe taking the pressure off and running happy will ultimately have the goal of increasing speed a little. Or do what I did yesterday, choose a hilly route and go all out on the downhill sections 🤣🤣 happy running 🤗
My suggestion would be to work on increasing the distance, as that will end up improving your 5k time... but if you want to go faster due to the time commitment it doesn't sound like a feasible option... Maybe try mix up your runs, do a normal 5k, a fast 3k, some intervals... as Granny says, run happy, you will continue to improve over time 
If you haven't already checked it out lots of people like this Youtube channel youtu.be/oLFTyzeS6O0
Or on the other hand, try pushing yourself harder over a shorter distance to begin with. You're running about 7'30"/k over 5k, so see if you can manage 1k in 7 minutes (after, say, 10 minutes dead slow jogging to warm up). If that goes OK, try 1.5k the next time out and so on - you could make this one of your regular weekly runs. Once you get to 5k in 35, try upping the pace to 6'45"/k and see how far you can go at that. Personally, I'm currently trying to increase the distance I can run at 5'00"/k from 5k to 10k - this morning I got to 7.5k
If you find you can't seem to increase your pace over the shorter distances, perhaps try a jog (30 secs) - run (20 secs) - sprint (10 secs) programme, which should get your legs used to going faster for at least those 10 seconds.
I agree that running longer distances regularly should, logically, mean you can improve your times for your shorter runs, but it is undoubtedly true to say if you want to run faster, you have to run faster - and that means increasing either leg speed (cadence) or stride length, or both if you can manage it.
Best of luck, and let us know how you get on!
I did what what Up The Stanley suggests. My first parkrun took me over 39 minutes. Over time I managed to bring it down to 35 minutes. Then I started training for 10K and 1 of my runs each week I concentrated on interval training. I worked really hard at interval training and got to 30 mins for 5K. I also went on to sub 28 minutes and my PB at parkrun is 25:36. I now can comfortably run 5K in 28 mins. I’d love to go sub 25 mins.
In order to run faster you have to run faster, over short intervals so as your mind and body gets used to the higher intensity.
But most importantly enjoy it.
Damien
Lots of great advice given which I too need to look at. I love slow running too much as I enjoy taking in the world around me. Not too focussed on time. However Park runs helped bring a more competitive edge to my run & my pB’s always improve. However not relevant at the moment!
I did it in 30mins a couple of days ago coz I was running in a deserted industrial estate and some weirdo man appeared and seemed to be following or stalking me!! Fairly made me run faster 😱
Still at 5k?... journey to 10k ?
First Postgrad Run - 5k!!
