Pace Calculator

Pace Calculator: Find Your Running or Swim Pace Instantly

This pace calculator will provide you with whatever statistic you are missing: your pace, your finish time or the speed you need to run to reach a goal. Choose the calculation you wish to perform and enter your race distance (preloaded presets for mile, 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon). Select swim mode for pace per 100 m or 100 yd. Results are offered in min/mile or min/km at your preference.

Most people who find themselves on this page are runners and they have one of three inquiries. Below we go through all three with real numbers and then show the formulas behind them.

Scenario 1 — “I Want to Know My Pace”

You want to know what you really ran after a run or race. This is the question upon which all other pace information is based and the number one reason people use running pace calculators.

The equation is Pace = Time/Distance.

You ran the 5k (3.1 miles) in 27 minutes, 30 seconds.

Pace = 27:30 / 3.1 miles = 8:52 per mile

That’s all she wrote. Divide your time by your distance, and you will get your pace per mile (or km, if you used km). This figure is intriguing in itself but the actual usefulness is in comparing it with other distances or using it in planning a race. That’s what the next two circumstances are for.

Your 5K, 10K, and marathon times will never be the same. That’s why this is more than interesting. In a one-mile race you run faster because you have to pay more attention to your pace and you get tired faster as the race progresses. First you need to know how fast you can go over a given distance.

Scenario 2 — “I Want to Know My Finish Time”

It could be from a training plan, a coach, or an online running pace calculator marathon chart. You know what pace you want to run at and want to know how long it will take you to finish at that pace. Here is where a race pace calculator or half marathon pace calculator really shines, because it helps to see the math written out.

How to figure it out: Finish Time = Pace × Distance

Example 1: To run a marathon, set a goal pace of 9:00 miles per hour. The marathon is 26.2 miles long.

How long does it take to finish? (9 x 26.2) minutes, or 3:55:48

Worked example 2 (half marathon, same pace): The same pace of 9:00/mile, but over the 13.1 miles of a half marathon.

What time did it end? 9:00 x 13.1 = 117.9 minutes, or 1:57:54

Place the two examples next to each other:

Since the marathon is almost twice as far as the half marathon, the same pace makes the marathon finish time almost twice as long as the half marathon end time. A good way to make sure you’re not crazy when comparing goal times for different race lengths is to see if the ratio doesn’t look like it should be 2 to 1. If it is, your pacing plan needs to be looked at again.

Scenario 3 — “I Want to Know What Pace I Need”

You’ve got a target for your finishing time, perhaps a personal best, or maybe just anything like a round number that you want to beat and you’re looking for what kind of speed it takes to get there. This is the running pace calculator use case and is typically the most beneficial of the three because it turns a goal into an actual training objective.

Formula: Required Pace = Distance / Goal Time

Worked example: You want to break 4:00:00 in a marathon.

Required Pace = 240 minutes / 26.2 miles = 9:10 minute per mile

To run 4 hours, you need to average 9:10 per mile for all 26.2 miles. In fact, most marathon runners don’t run each mile at that speed. One typical tactic is a negative split, running a little slower than goal speed the first half (to save energy) and a little faster the second half (using whatever you have left in the tank). For a sub-4:00:00 target that may be more like 9:15/mile for the first half and 9:05/mile for the second half, still getting to the same overall 9:10/mile average but more sustainable.

Once you have identified the pace you need, the actual usefulness is in comparing it with your recent training runs. If your easy training pace is nothing close to 9:10/mile, that’s useful knowledge well before race day, not a surprise at mile 20.

Mile Pace Calculator: Shaort-Distance Pace for Track Workouts

It’s helpful to know how a mile pace changes for shorter distances because track workouts are usually planned in splits instead of full miles. A mile is about four laps of a standard 400-meter track, so divide your mile pace by four to get an idea of your target splits.

As a quick reference (mile pace calculator):

Of course, these are just guesses since a mile is slightly longer than four even 400m laps, but they’re close enough to use to plan a workout. Looking to train for a marathon or 5K? This table makes it easy to quickly convert your goal mile pace into the splits you’ll see on the track when you do mile-repeat intervals or 800m repeats.

Swim Pace Calculator: Pace Per 100m or 100yd

Swimming is not quantified in pace per mile as running is. Pool distances are short and repetitive; therefore, swim pace calculator programs employ pace per 100 meters or 100 yards instead, which is how swimsuits actually calculate their splits lap by lap.

The formula: Swim Pace = Time/Distance/100

Worked example You swam 1500 m in 30 min

Swim Pace = 30:00 / (1,500 / 100) = 30:00 / 15 = 2:00 per 100m

That 2:00 per 100 m figure is your starting point for organizing interval sets, tracking progress over time, or pacing a longer open-water swim. And like running, swim pace changes with distance, too. In a 200 m sprint your pace per 100 m is usually faster than it would be in a 1,500 m swim, because the longer effort requires more even energy management.

Converting Running Pace Between Min/Mile and Min/Km

When you’ve practiced using miles your whole life and then see a race in kilometres (or the other way around), it can be hard to figure out how to change your running pace between the two units.

The formula is:1 mile is equal to 1.60934 kilometers.

Divide by 1.60934 to get from min/mile to min/km. Multiply by 1.60934 to go the other way.

It worked: You run at a speed of 8:00 per mile. How many minutes per km is that?

8 minutes times 1.60934 equals 4.97 minutes per km, or 4:58 per km.

Quick reference table:

Sometimes this change is more important than it seems, like when you’re comparing your training pace to a race with splits in a different unit or when you’re using an app that starts with a different unit than you’re used to, like Strava pace calculator. You won’t make mistakes with your splits on race day if you use a quick pace calculator like this one.

FAQs

Q1. How do I calculate my running pace?

To find out your pace, divide your total time by the distance you covered: Pace = Time / Distance. So, in our example, running a 5K (3.1 miles) in 27:30 translates to an 8:52 pace per mile.

Q2. How do I figure out my marathon finish time from my pace?

Finish Time = Pace x Distance Multiply your goal pace by the race distance. For example, a 9:00/mile pace over 26.2 marathon miles gives a finish time of 3:55:48.

Q3. What pace do I need to run a sub-4-hour marathon?

To find out the required pace, divide your target time by the distance. Required Pace = target Time / Distance To run a marathon in under 4:00:00 you’d have to average roughly 9:10 per mile over the 26.2 miles.

Q4. How do I convert min/mile to min/km?

Divide your min/mile pace by 1.60934 (the number of kilometers in a mile). 4:58/km equals around 8:00/mile. To convert from min/km to min/mile, multiply by 1.60934

Q5. How is swim pace calculated differently from running pace?

They provide pace every 100 yards or meters not per mile. The distances in the water are short , and swimsuits take splits in those increments. Swim Pace = Time / (Distance / 100). A 2:00 per 100m pace for a 1500 m swim = 30:00.

Q6. What’s a good pace for a beginner runner?

There is no ‘good’ pace, according to your level of fitness, goals and experience. A lot of rookie runners average anywhere between 10 and 14 minutes per mile but that range is highly variable and not something to compare yourself against too closely. Speed counts significantly less than consistency in the beginning. Speed comes easily with time as a regular habit.

Conclusion

All pace questions are based on the same three numbers: pace, time and distance. Simply enter any two and the above calculator will automatically calculate the third Whether you’re checking how fast you recently ran, establishing a goal finish time or working out the pace you need to hit a personal best. The same concept applies to swimming and works for both min/mile and min/km so you never have to convert by hand or predict splits. Run or swim mode. Enter your own values into the calculator at the top of this page and use the worked examples above as a fast sanity check. A few seconds of the right numbers are better than guessing on race day.