I know there are always a few concerns in the latter stages that people just aren’t hitting that 5K in 30:00 minute mark... and from what I’ve seen, about 99% don’t hit it by the end anyway!
I was one of those that was concerned that I’d never speed up and wouldn’t make it.
I graduated a couple of months ago still well-shy of that golden figure. Thankfully I’ve kept up the running, getting in plenty of consolidation 5K’s and doing some organised runs... the highlight being the Supernova 5K at the Olympic Park in London.
And slowly, very slowly, those times have crept down... 47:17 - 40:28 - 36:48 - 35:11 - 35:01 - 33:53 - 33:30 - 33:23 - 32:27 - 32:00 - 30:47.... and finally, yesterday, I managed to dig deep and hit the magic number.... 5K in 29:57!
Bottom line is... you will get there. It’s all just a case of sticking at it, getting your runs in, looking after your muscles and sometimes just digging deep to put a final spurt on when it’s needed or to pick up the pace and dig in when you feel like just abandoning.
Keep going... one foot in front of the other... that’s all running really is! Good luck!