Couch to 5K

Black Pear Joggers offers a 9 week programme for those with no running experience or returning from injury. Led by friendly qualified run leaders, you’ll build up your confidence over the weeks to be able to run 5K and beyond.

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There are no C25K programmes currently scheduled. Register your interest if you’d like to be notified when a date is set.

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Week by week

Check out the week by week schedule below. Sessions may be adapted depending on abilities, but this gives a guide to what to expect. If you’re unable to make the club-led programme, you can always follow it yourself, using the NHS Couch to 5K programme.

  • 1

    Week 1

    For the runs in Week 1, you will begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then you will alternate 60 seconds of running, with 90 seconds of walking, for a total of 20 minutes.

  • 2

    Week 2

    For the runs in Week 2, you will begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk then you will alternate 90 seconds of running, with 2 minutes of walking, for a total of 20 minutes.

  • 3

    Week 3

    For the runs in Week 3, you will begin with brisk 5-minute warm-up walk followed by 2 repetitions of the following; 90 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking, 3 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking.

  • 4

    Week 4

    For the runs in Week 4, you will begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk then 3 minutes of running, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes running, 2 ½ minutes walking, 3 minutes running, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes running.

  • 5

    Week 5

    There are three different workouts for this week. They are as follows:

    • Run 1: brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 20 minutes running, with no walking.

    Homework

    • Run 2: brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running.
    • Run 3: brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 8 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 8 minutes running.
  • 6

    Week 6

    As with Week 5, there are three different runs for this week.

    • Run 1: brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 25 minutes with no walking.

    Homework

    • Run 2: brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 8 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running.
    • Run 3: brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 10 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 10 minutes running
  • 7

    Week 7

    For the runs in Week 7, you will begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk then 25 minutes of running.

    From now on, the plan gets you used to running for solid blocks of time, without the distraction of walking intervals.

  • 8

    Week 8

    For the runs in Week 8, you will begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk then 28 minutes of running.

    By now, you should be getting comfortable with the longer runs but you still need to concentrate on completing the 28 minutes without going too fast.

  • 9

    Week 9

    For the runs in Week 9, you will begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk then 30 minutes of running.

    You’ve nearly reached the end of your programme and you’ve made some great progress. This is the week when you can reach your goal. Well done!

Qualified run leaders

Couch to 5K programme is led by England Athletics qualified run leaders and coaches. Supportive and encouraging, they will help give you confidence in running and be on hand to answer any questions you have.