Min/km to km/h: Pace Conversion and Treadmill Table
How to convert pace in min/km to speed in km/h and back, with the formula, worked examples and tables for treadmill speed.
In this article
To go from pace to speed, divide 3,600 by your seconds per kilometer. If you run at 6:00 per kilometer, that is 360 seconds and 3,600 / 360 = 10 km/h. For the opposite direction, divide 60 by the speed and you get the minutes per kilometer.
This article explains both conversions with worked examples, a table of paces with their speed and their 5K and 10K times, another table with treadmill speeds in steps of 0.5 km/h and the most common conversion mistakes, above all the decimal minutes one.
From min/km to km/h
An hour has 3,600 seconds. If you take a certain number of seconds to cover each kilometer, working out how many kilometers you cover in an hour is that division.
- Convert your pace to seconds: minutes x 60 plus the seconds.
- Divide 3,600 by those seconds.
- The result is km/h.
Example: a pace of 5:40 per kilometer is 5 x 60 + 40 = 340 seconds. Then 3,600 / 340 = 10.59 km/h. On a treadmill, the closest you can set is 10.6.
From km/h to min/km
Here the route is the reverse:
- Divide 60 by the speed. The result is the minutes per kilometer in decimals.
- Keep the whole part as the minutes.
- Multiply the decimal part by 60 to get the seconds.
Example: 11.5 km/h. 60 / 11.5 = 5.217 minutes. The whole part is 5 minutes and 0.217 x 60 is about 13 seconds. Result: 5:13 per kilometer.
Table: from pace to speed
This table lists the most common paces with their exact speed, the speed rounded to one decimal that you could set on a treadmill and the time you would take over 5 and 10 kilometers.
| Pace per km | Speed | Treadmill (1 decimal) | 5K time | 10K time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:00 | 15.00 km/h | 15.0 | 20:00 | 40:00 |
| 4:30 | 13.33 km/h | 13.3 | 22:30 | 45:00 |
| 5:00 | 12.00 km/h | 12.0 | 25:00 | 50:00 |
| 5:15 | 11.43 km/h | 11.4 | 26:15 | 52:30 |
| 5:30 | 10.91 km/h | 10.9 | 27:30 | 55:00 |
| 5:45 | 10.43 km/h | 10.4 | 28:45 | 57:30 |
| 6:00 | 10.00 km/h | 10.0 | 30:00 | 60:00 |
| 6:15 | 9.60 km/h | 9.6 | 31:15 | 62:30 |
| 6:30 | 9.23 km/h | 9.2 | 32:30 | 65:00 |
| 6:45 | 8.89 km/h | 8.9 | 33:45 | 67:30 |
| 7:00 | 8.57 km/h | 8.6 | 35:00 | 70:00 |
| 7:30 | 8.00 km/h | 8.0 | 37:30 | 75:00 |
| 8:00 | 7.50 km/h | 7.5 | 40:00 | 80:00 |
| 8:30 | 7.06 km/h | 7.1 | 42:30 | 85:00 |
| 9:00 | 6.67 km/h | 6.7 | 45:00 | 90:00 |
| 10:00 | 6.00 km/h | 6.0 | 50:00 | 100:00 |
If your pace is not in the table, apply the formula. For example, 6:48 is 408 seconds and 3,600 / 408 = 8.82 km/h.
Table: from treadmill speed to pace
On a treadmill you choose the speed, not the pace. This table goes the other way and uses steps of 0.5 km/h.
| Speed | Pace per km | 5K time | 10K time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.0 km/h | 7:30 | 37:30 | 75:00 |
| 8.5 km/h | 7:04 | 35:18 | 70:35 |
| 9.0 km/h | 6:40 | 33:20 | 66:40 |
| 9.5 km/h | 6:19 | 31:35 | 63:09 |
| 10.0 km/h | 6:00 | 30:00 | 60:00 |
| 10.5 km/h | 5:43 | 28:34 | 57:09 |
| 11.0 km/h | 5:27 | 27:16 | 54:33 |
| 11.5 km/h | 5:13 | 26:05 | 52:10 |
| 12.0 km/h | 5:00 | 25:00 | 50:00 |
| 12.5 km/h | 4:48 | 24:00 | 48:00 |
| 13.0 km/h | 4:37 | 23:05 | 46:09 |
| 13.5 km/h | 4:27 | 22:13 | 44:27 |
| 14.0 km/h | 4:17 | 21:26 | 42:51 |
Notice that the relationship is not linear. From 8 to 9 km/h you drop 50 seconds per kilometer, from 12 to 13 km/h only 23. That is why it is worth looking at the table instead of estimating by eye.
How to use it for a goal
If your goal is a specific time, the route is: total time, pace and treadmill speed.
- A 10K in 50 minutes is 5:00 per kilometer and 12.0 km/h, as explained in how to run a 10K in 50 minutes.
- A half marathon in 2:00:00 is 5:41 per kilometer and about 10.6 km/h (3,600 / 341 = 10.56), as detailed in half marathon in 2 hours.
- For your comfortable pace, convert to km/h the pace from what pace to run your easy runs at and pick the closest treadmill step.
If you would rather have it done for you, the pace calculator and time predictor converts between pace, speed and time.
Check that the treadmill shows what it says
Some treadmills may not match the speed they display exactly, so a simple check is useful. The distance you cover is the speed multiplied by the time in hours.
- At 10.0 km/h, in 6 minutes you cover 10 x 6 / 60 = 1.0 kilometers.
- At 12.0 km/h, in 6 minutes you cover 1.2 kilometers.
If your treadmill shows distance, start a stopwatch, run or walk for 6 minutes at a constant speed and compare. If there is a clear difference, write it down and use it to correct your calculations. It is a rough check, not a calibration.
Mental shortcuts
- 6:00 per kilometer is 10 km/h. It is the easiest reference point.
- From there, speed drops less at each step: 6:30 is 9.23 km/h, 7:00 is 8.57 and 7:30 is 8.00.
- To convert quickly, 60 divided by the minutes of the pace in decimals: 6:30 is 6.5 minutes and 60 / 6.5 = 9.23 km/h.
Common conversion mistakes
- Using decimal minutes as if they were minutes and seconds (5.5 is not 5:50).
- Rounding too early: 10.59 km/h is not the same as 11 km/h, and the difference over 10 kilometers is more than 2 minutes.
- Mixing up your average pace with the pace of one specific segment.
- Trusting a treadmill speed without ever checking it against distance and time.
- Forgetting that your watch and the markers of a race can give slightly different kilometers, as explained in why your GPS watch reads longer than the race.