10K training plans
Four 10K races in the library, a 10-week build behind each one. Every one is written two weeks at a time, phased for how far out you are, and rebuilt the moment you travel, get sick or something starts hurting.
On Pro, the hours, the experience level and the date you give shape every block, and the plan is rewritten when your week changes.
On Pro, a beginner's running week holds 4 to 9 hours and an advanced runner's holds 8 to 16, so the same race gives two different plans.
The races on this page are examples. In the app you choose a distance and set your own date, so a race we have not listed works the same way.
Free plan available · Paid from $7.50/mo billed annually · iOS, Android & web
10K AT A GLANCE
- Races covered4
- Typical build10 weeks
- Race monthsJan · Apr · May
- True of all 4Road · Open
- Next upVancouver Sun Run · Apr 18, 2027
- SportRunning
WHO A 10K PLAN IS FOR
A 10K for new and returning runners
A 10K asks for more than a 5K and far less than a half marathon, which makes it a good first step up. A typical build runs about ten weeks, with a tempo run, an interval day and a long easy run in the sample week.
On Pro, a runner on four hours a week and one on twelve do not get the same plan. The weekly total stays inside a band for the experience level, and inside the band it follows the hours you give.
When work runs long or you get sick, the plan is rewritten for the week you actually have.
THE 10K FIELD
What a 10K build has to cope with
Counted off the four 10K races on this page. It is not a general claim about the distance.
HOW LONG THE BUILD RUNS
Every plan at this distance runs to ten weeks.
It sits between 5K (8 weeks) and half marathon (12 weeks) and marathon (16 weeks).
Whatever the length, the plan is written two weeks at a time and phased for how far out you are, so 10K races that start in a hole and 10K races that start fit do not get the same first block.
WHAT YOU BUILD THROUGH
Three of the four put the bulk of the build in spring; the rest split one in winter.
A build that runs through spring starts in the dark and finishes in the light, with the weather changing underneath it.
Race dates land in three different months of the year.
WHAT THE COURSES DO
Two of the four are flat; the other two are rolling.
All four are on road.
WHAT THE WEATHER DOES
Two of the four are cool; the rest split one temperate and one unpredictable.
HOW YOU GET IN
All four go by open entry.
Field size, in starters: three at 10,000 to 40,000 and one at 40,000 or more.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE DATES
We hold a confirmed date for two of the four. The other two carry a season instead, and the table says so rather than inventing a day.
Dates are checked against each race’s own announcement before they go in, and a date we cannot stand behind is left out.
ALL FOUR 10K RACES
Every 10K race we have a plan for
Three of the seven things we track vary between these races, so those are the columns. The ones that do not vary are in the card above. Every name links to its own plan.
| Race | When | Course | Conditions | Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Sun RunVancouver, BC | Rolling | Cool | 10,000-40,000 | |
| BOLDERBoulderBoulder, CO | Rolling | Unpredictable | 40,000+ | |
| 10K Valencia IbercajaValencia, Spain | Winter 2027 | Flat | Temperate | 10,000-40,000 |
| AJ Bell Great Manchester RunManchester, UK | Spring 2027 | Flat | Cool | 10,000-40,000 |