Treadmills show speed, but most running plans and race goals talk about pace. This converter switches between the two. Enter a speed in mph or km/h, a pace per mile or per km, or a finish time you’re aiming for, and it shows the matching speed, pace and finish times. It runs in your browser and doesn’t save anything.
How to use it
- From a speed: type the number on your treadmill display, for example 6.0 mph, to see what pace that is and how long a 5K would take.
- From a pace: type a pace as minutes:seconds, such as 9:30 per mile, to get the speed to set.
- From a target time: pick a distance and enter your goal, such as 30:00 for a 5K, to see the steady speed you’d need.
Most treadmills change speed in steps of 0.1, so the tool rounds the speed to set to one decimal place. For target times, it also shows the finish time you’d get at that rounded speed.
The maths
One mile is exactly 1.609344 km. Pace is time divided by distance, and speed is distance divided by time, so pace in minutes per mile = 60 ÷ mph, and pace in minutes per km = 60 ÷ km/h. Finish times are distance ÷ speed. The race distances used are 1 mile, 5 km, 10 km and 21.0975 km for a half marathon.
Treadmill pace vs outdoor pace
The same pace usually feels a little easier on a treadmill, because there’s no air resistance and the belt helps your leg turnover slightly. Many runners set a 1% incline to make up for it. My treadmill vs outdoor running guide explains where that figure comes from. Treadmill speed displays can also be slightly off, especially on older home machines, so treat the numbers as close rather than exact.
Related guides
- Couch to 5K on a treadmill
- Treadmill interval training for beginners
- Your first treadmill run: a beginner’s checklist
- Calorie estimator for treadmill, elliptical and Pilates sessions
- All treadmill guides