75-Minute 5K Pacing Practice Plan

Bring everyone in at the course start area. Show them the loop/out-and-back and point out the turn and the hill (or where the surge zone will be).

• Tell them the goal: “We’re learning how to run the first mile calm and finish faster than we start.”
• Quick safety: stay right on paths, call “on your left” when passing walkers, no headphones today.
• Watch for: who’s listening and who’s bouncing around—use those focused kids as demo runners later.

Keep this moving. If you talk longer than this, you’ll lose them before the work starts.

Use a straight 60–80 meters. Cones at each end. Everyone jogs easy 3 minutes, then lines up for drills.

• Sequence: 2 x down-and-back each: high knees, butt kicks, straight-leg bounds (small), side shuffle. Then 10 walking lunges and 10 leg swings each side holding a partner or fence.
• Strides: 4 x 15–20 seconds building to fast-but-smooth; walk back recovery. Last 2 strides finish with 10 seconds at “race effort,” then shut it down.
• Cues: “Tall posture.” “Quick feet under you.” “Fast is smooth—no sprinting.”
• Common issue: athletes turn strides into an all-out race. Fix: put a cone at 20 seconds; if they hit it early, they went too hard—redo that stride controlled.

Mark a 200–300m loop or a straight out-and-back with a cone turn. Runners go in small groups (4–6) so no one is standing.

Run 3 repeats with 60 seconds easy walk/jog between. Each repeat is the same distance but different effort.

• Rep 1: steady (you could talk in short sentences).
• Rep 2: “comfortably hard” (2–3 words).
• Rep 3: start steady for 10 seconds, then lift to comfortably hard and finish the last 15 seconds strongest.
• Cues: “Settle early.” “Same rhythm, stronger push.” “Finish like you’re hunting.”

Watch for: athletes who speed up by flailing arms/shoulders. Fix by telling them to keep shoulders low and speed up with quicker steps, not bigger steps.

Use cones to create a fake start line 15–20 meters wide. Put athletes in two rows like a race. Explain where a new runner belongs: not on the very front row unless they’re clearly one of the fastest, and not hiding in the very back.

1. Practice a calm 30-second start: first 10 seconds controlled, next 20 seconds settle into your group.
2. Reset and do it again with a “crowded start” where you tell them to hold their line and avoid weaving.

• Cues: “Straight line—no zig-zag.” “Elbows close.” “Breathe early.”
• Common issue: kids cut across the line to find space. Fix: tell them: “Pick a lane and own it for 20 seconds.” If they weave, restart the rep.

Water at a cone. While they drink, give one reminder that will matter in the next block: “Passing is controlled—no panic surges.”

If someone looks cooked already, quietly move them into a group that runs steadier in the next period.

Set up a 150–250m loop with a clearly marked no-pass turn zone using 4 cones (two cones entering the turn, two exiting). Groups of 5–8 start together.

Run 3 minutes continuous, 1 minute easy, then 3 minutes continuous again.

• During the run, call out: “One pass in the next 20 seconds” to each group. They must pass on the straight, then settle back into rhythm.
• Second round, call: “You just got passed—count to five, then decide.”
• Cues: “Pass with space.” “One move, then tuck in.” “Relax when it happens to you.”
• Watch for: heel clipping and sudden lateral moves. Stop the group and demonstrate: outside pass, then merge only when you’re a step ahead.

Adjustment if it’s too spread out: shorten the loop so they stay in contact and get more decision reps.

Use the same loop. Mark a surge zone (20–30m) on a straight, and identify the hill and the turn. Groups run 4 x 90 seconds with 60 seconds easy between.

• Rep focus: one controlled surge through the surge zone, then settle back to steady within 10 steps.
• Hill rule: shorten stride, keep chest tall; don’t sprint the first half of the hill.
• Turn rule: quick feet, slight lean, no braking—exit the turn and then accelerate.
• Cues: “Surge, then settle.” “Crest, then press.” “Fast feet through the turn.”

Common issue: they surge and never come back down. Fix: on the next rep, require them to say “settle” out loud after the surge zone—if they can’t speak it, they’re still too hot.

Set a loop or out-and-back that takes most runners 2–4 minutes at race effort. Put athletes in ability groups of 4–8. Each group starts from a cone “start box.”

Run 3 reps with 90 seconds easy walk/jog between reps. The goal is negative split by effort: controlled first rep, cleaner second rep, strongest last rep.

• Rep 1: practice the first minute—calm start, find rhythm, no weaving.
• Rep 2: one planned pass (on the straight) and one controlled surge (through the surge zone).
• Rep 3: compete the last 60–90 seconds; if you pass, you must hold it to the cone.
• Cues: “Calm first minute.” “One move, then rhythm.” “Last rep: hunt.”

Watch for: who can surge and then return to steady without blowing up. If a runner is redlining, keep them in the group but tell them their win condition is “steady + one clean pass,” not winning the rep.

Easy jog 3 minutes together, then circle up for 60 seconds.

• Ask two quick questions: “What did a controlled start feel like?” and “When is the best time to pass on a course like ours?”
• Lock in the routine: remind them this warm-up is the same one you’ll use on race day.
• Send them off with one job for next practice: write down one pacing mistake you made today and the fix you’ll try next time.