Pace and Speed Conversion
min/km, km/h, min/mi and mph — the formulas, a worked example and a reference table.
Pace and speed describe the same run from two angles. Pace is time per distance — 5:00 per kilometer. Speed is distance per time — 12 km/h. Race splits, GPS watches and training plans speak in pace; treadmills, bike computers and weather reports speak in speed. Moving between them is a single division, but which number goes on top is what trips people up.
This guide covers all three conversions a runner needs: pace to speed (min/km and km/h), the imperial pair (min/mi and mph), and pace to pace across the metric boundary (min/km and min/mi). Every number in the table below is computed from the formulas explained here, using the same Calcpace library that powers the converter.
The formulas
km/h = 60 / min per km
min per km = 60 / km/h
mph = 60 / min per mile
min per mile = min per km × 1.609344
min/km to km/h, and back
An hour holds 60 minutes. If a single kilometer costs you p minutes, then in one hour you cover 60 divided by p kilometers. That is the entire derivation: km/h = 60 / (min per km). Because the relationship is a reciprocal, the same expression runs in reverse — min per km = 60 / (km/h) — so there is only one formula to remember.
The catch is the pace format. A pace of 4:45/km is not the number 4.45: the seconds are sixtieths, not hundredths. Turn them into a decimal first (45 / 60 = 0.75, so 4:45 is 4.75 minutes), then divide: 60 / 4.75 = 12.63 km/h. Skipping that step is the most common arithmetic error in pace conversion, and it gets worse the larger the seconds part is.
Miles: min/mi and mph
The imperial pair works identically, because nothing in the reasoning above mentioned kilometers. An hour is still 60 minutes, so mph = 60 / (min per mile). A pace of 9:39/mi is 9.65 minutes per mile, and 60 / 9.65 = 6.22 mph.
Crossing between metric and imperial needs one constant: an international mile is exactly 1.609344 km. A mile is the longer unit, so it takes longer to run — multiply a kilometer pace by 1.609344 to get the mile pace, and divide to come back. 5:00/km becomes 300 × 1.609344 = 482.8 seconds, or 8:02/mi. For speeds the operation flips: divide km/h by 1.609344 to get mph, because a bigger unit means fewer of them fit into an hour.
Worked example: 7:00 min/km
Seven minutes per kilometer needs no decimal step — it is already 7.0 minutes — so the speed is 60 / 7 = 8.57 km/h. For miles, multiply the pace: 420 seconds × 1.609344 = 675.9 seconds, which is 11:15 per mile, or 5.33 mph. Those are exactly the four values on the 7:00 row of the table below. It is a very common easy-run pace, which is why it is the conversion runners look up most often.
Pace conversion table
| Pace /km | Speed km/h | Pace /mi | Speed mph |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | 20.00 | 4:49 | 12.43 |
| 3:30 | 17.14 | 5:37 | 10.65 |
| 4:00 | 15.00 | 6:26 | 9.32 |
| 4:30 | 13.33 | 7:14 | 8.28 |
| 5:00 | 12.00 | 8:02 | 7.46 |
| 5:30 | 10.91 | 8:51 | 6.78 |
| 6:00 | 10.00 | 9:39 | 6.21 |
| 6:30 | 9.23 | 10:27 | 5.74 |
| 7:00 | 8.57 | 11:15 | 5.33 |
| 7:30 | 8.00 | 12:04 | 4.97 |
| 8:00 | 7.50 | 12:52 | 4.66 |
Computed from the formulas above — km/h = 60 / (min per km), with the mile values derived from the exact 1.609344 factor. Paces run from 3:00 to 8:00 per kilometer in 30-second steps.
Common mistakes
- Reading a pace as a decimal. 4:30/km is 4.5 minutes, not 4.30. Divide the seconds by 60 before you divide 60 by the pace.
- Mixing up which direction is better. Pace is time per distance, so lower is faster: 4:00/km beats 5:00/km. Speed is distance per time, so higher is faster: 15 km/h beats 12 km/h. The two scales run in opposite directions, and confusing them is how a training plan ends up prescribing the wrong effort.
- Multiplying a speed by 1.609344 instead of dividing. The mile factor scales distances and paces up, but speeds down: 16 km/h is 9.94 mph, not 25.7.
Convert your own numbers
The Calcpace converter handles distance, speed and pace in both directions, instantly.
See the finish times
The pace chart maps every pace to 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon finish times.
Converting Running Pace to Speed: min/km, km/h, min/mi and mph
Every runner eventually needs both units. Race splits, GPS watches and training plans are written in pace — minutes per kilometer or minutes per mile — because pace answers the question that matters mid-race: how long will the next kilometer take? Treadmills, exercise bikes, wind forecasts and most speed data outside running are written in km/h or mph. The conversion is one division, and this guide shows where that division comes from instead of only handing over the answer.
The core identity is km/h = 60 / (minutes per kilometer). It falls straight out of the definition of an hour: if one kilometer costs p minutes, 60/p of them fit into 60 minutes. Because the relationship is a reciprocal, the same expression converts back, and the same shape works for imperial units with mph = 60 / (minutes per mile). The only extra ingredient for crossing between the two systems is the exact mile: 1.609344 kilometers.
A reciprocal relationship also means the two scales do not move together in a straight line. Dropping 30 seconds per kilometer from 8:00 to 7:30 gains 0.5 km/h; the same 30 seconds from 3:30 to 3:00 gains 2.86 km/h. That is why speed differences look dramatic at the fast end of the table and almost flat at the slow end, and why comparing improvements in km/h across different fitness levels can mislead. For tracking your own progress, pace is usually the fairer unit.
How does this work?
How do I convert min/km to km/h?
Divide 60 by your pace in minutes per kilometer, converting the seconds to a decimal first. 5:30/km is 5.5 minutes, and 60 / 5.5 = 10.91 km/h. The same division runs in reverse: 60 / 10.91 = 5.5 minutes, which is 5:30/km.
What is 7 min/km in km/h?
7:00 min/km is 8.57 km/h, because 60 / 7 = 8.571. In imperial units the same pace is 11:15 per mile, or 5.33 mph. It is a typical easy-run or long-run pace for recreational runners.
How do I convert min/km to min/mi?
Multiply by 1.609344, the exact number of kilometers in an international mile. A 5:00/km pace is 300 × 1.609344 = 482.8 seconds, or 8:02 per mile. To go the other way, divide the mile pace by the same factor.