A 5K TIME is one of the most universally understood running benchmarks out there. Thanks to the popularity of Parkrun, even those at the beginning of their running journey have a good idea of what constitutes a ‘good’ 5k time – and the work it takes to achieve one.
While building up to your first 5k is incredibly achievable, the distance itself is by no means easy. A fast 5k demands genuine speed while also testing your endurance. Push yourself hard over the distance and you’ll find yourself running around – or slightly above – your lactate threshold (hence the burning legs), with your heart rate sitting towards the upper end of its limit. None of which makes for an easy outing.
But because a 5k is over relatively quickly – and doesn’t take too long to recover from – it’s one of those distances many runners return to time and again.
You probably know how your mates stack up over the distance – but what about the rich and famous? How do their times around the local park compare?
Some of the performances below are verified 5k race results, while others come from parkrun or times shared by the celebrities themselves. As such, consider this more of a celebrity 5k leaderboard than an official record book.
We’ve also worked out how each performance ranks for the athlete’s age using data from Running Level.
Before diving in, it’s worth noting that, according to data from RunRepeat, the average 5k time for a man is 29 minutes – so don’t beat yourself up if you’re nowhere near these celebrities’ times.
Spencer Matthews
The Men’s Health UK cover star has been vocal about his ambition to run a sub-2:45 marathon, and it seems his training has been paying off. Matthews recently shared on Instagram that he ran 17:59 at Battersea parkrun – an average pace of 3:35/km.
At 37, that puts him just two seconds outside Running Level’s ‘elite’ benchmark.
Travis Barker
The Blink-182 drummer and music producer previously recorded a chip time of 20:27 at his running event, Run Travis Run, in Queens, New York. That equates to an average pace of 4:05/km. The performance came in 2024, when he was 48, placing him comfortably in the ‘advanced’ category for his age.
More recently, in 2025, he lined up at the Big 5 Sporting Goods Los Angeles 5K, where he finished in 22:31, averaging 7:15 per mile.
Kevin Hart
Hart is known for being a keen runner and previously revealed in an interview that his fastest-ever 5k time is 20:03, although his goal is to break the 20-minute barrier. We don’t know exactly how old he was when he ran that time, but if it came within the last seven years (he’s now 47), it would qualify as an advanced performance for his age.
Sebastian Vettel
While Vettel hasn’t publicly shared a standalone 5k PB, his performance at the 2026 London Marathon gives a good indication of his speed. According to the official results, he covered the opening 5k in 20:35, averaging 4:07/km. Considering he still had more than 37km left to run, he could almost certainly go faster over the standalone distance. Even so, at 39, that split still ranks as intermediate for his age.
Olly Murs
Singer is pretty quick on his feet. On Instagram, he recently revealed he’d run his first sub-20 5k, clocking 19:47 at an average pace of 3:57/km. At 42, that performance puts him firmly in the ‘advanced’ category for his age.
