Pace to Speed Converter

Runners usually talk in pace — minutes per mile — but speed in miles per hour (mph) is easier to compare across activities and easier for most people to picture. This converter moves between the two, which helps when you're chasing a specific time, sizing up your effort against other sports, or setting training targets you can actually hold. It's equally useful for plotting race strategy ahead of a marathon or a neighborhood 5K.

Turning pace into speed takes one short step: divide 60, the number of minutes in an hour, by your pace in minutes per mile. A 9-minute mile, for instance, works out to 60 minutes / 9 minutes/mile = 6.67 mph. The results also show the pace per kilometer and the finish time that pace gives over a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon.

One thing the number hides is that pace is an average across the whole distance, while your real speed rises and falls as you run. The conversion also assumes flat, still conditions, leaving out elevation, wind resistance, and fatigue, all of which bite into actual performance. Factor those forces back in before you carry a converted speed into a training plan or a race-day prediction.