Running pace calculator

Enter a distance and a finish time to see the pace you need per mile and per kilometre, or enter a pace to see the finish time it gives you.

How to use your pace

The pace the calculator gives is an average. On the day you will run some miles faster and some slower, so treat it as the number to come back to, not one to hit every mile. Most runners do best by starting a few seconds a mile slower than target pace, settling by the second or third mile and saving any extra effort for the last quarter of the race.

If you train in kilometres and the race is marked in miles, or the other way round, write both paces on your hand or print a set of splits with the pace band generator. The pace chart shows finish times for every pace on one page.

Miles and kilometres

One mile is 1.609 kilometres, so a pace per mile is a little over one and a half times the pace per kilometre. A 10-minute mile is 6:13 per kilometre. A 6-minute kilometre is 9:39 per mile. UK road races are usually marked in miles, although many 5K and 10K events show kilometre markers as well.

Choosing a realistic target

A target pace should come from running you have already done. If you have a recent race result, the race time predictor will turn it into an estimate for another distance. If you have no result yet, time yourself over 5K at a steady hard effort and start from there. For a first race at any distance, the best target is to finish feeling you could have gone a little faster.