This will be effective, but really the only thing that matters with cardio is intensity. You’ll get way more benefit overall if you do a shorter more intense workout than a longer less intense workout. Also taking breaks every 10 minutes will generally be less effective than just keeping going, as your heart rate will lower, however if this allows you to keep going harder when you are running then it could be beneficial. It’s hard to say definitively without knowing more.
Many people practice interval training, that is short bursts of intense exercise with “rest” periods of less intense work.
I have heard of people setting up 2 treadmills running side by side, one at 4mph, one at 10mph. You can start off with whatever you want, but generally you might do a minute at 4mph, then 20 seconds at 10mph, and repeat. As you’ve done more and more you could work up to a minute of each alternating. It doesn’t have to be running, you could do it with stationary rowing, cycling, anything really.
There’s info about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_training but really there’s a lot of conflicting info online about all kinds of exercise.
Really it all depends on what your goals are, and different things work for different people, so I would say just find something that works for you and go with it. It can really help to read about what other people find effective and try a bit of everything in order to do this.