Pace & Speed Converter
Convert between running pace and speed — min/km, min/mi, km/h, mph.
Results update as you type.
How it works
A pace and speed converter translates how fast you are moving between two different ways of expressing it: pace, the time taken to cover a set distance (minutes per kilometre or minutes per mile), and speed, the distance covered per unit of time (kilometres per hour or miles per hour). Because pace and speed are inverses of each other, this is not a plain multiply-and-divide; the converter pivots through metres per second and inverts where needed to keep every result correct. This matters because runners, cyclists and coaches think in pace, while treadmills, apps and vehicle speedometers often show speed, and the two are easy to confuse. A runner who trains at a 5:00 min/km pace needs to know that equals 12 km/h to set a treadmill, and that a 8:00 min/mile pace is about 7.5 mph. Mixing the metric and imperial versions on top of the pace-versus-speed distinction makes mental conversion genuinely awkward, so a dedicated tool saves time and avoids mis-set workouts. The converter reduces any input to metres per second — a pace of minutes per kilometre becomes 1000 divided by the seconds taken, a speed of km/h is divided by 3.6 — then rebuilds the target unit from that base. Values of zero or below are rejected, since a zero pace or speed has no physical meaning. Runners, triathletes, cyclists, treadmill users and coaches all rely on a pace and speed converter to plan sessions and races on whichever scale suits them.
Convert through metres per second, inverting between pace and speed as needed
Every input is first reduced to metres per second: a min/km pace becomes 1000 divided by the value times 60, a min/mi pace uses 1609.344 in place of 1000, a km/h speed is divided by 3.6, and an mph speed is multiplied by 0.44704. The target unit is then rebuilt from that metres-per-second base, inverting back to a time-per-distance pace where required. This pivot handles the pace-to-speed reciprocal correctly; zero or negative inputs return NaN.
Source:International System of Units (SI) — NIST
We review all our tools from time to time to ensure accuracy.
Worked example
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your values
Enter value, from and to.
- 2
Adjust the options
Fine-tune any options to match your situation.
- 3
Read your result
Converted pace / speed updates instantly as you type — no button to press.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert running pace to speed?
For minutes per kilometre, divide 60 by your pace in decimal minutes to get km/h. A 5:00 min/km pace is 5.0 minutes, so 60 ÷ 5 = 12 km/h. For minutes per mile, divide 60 by the pace to get mph. The relationship is reciprocal because pace is time per distance and speed is distance per time, which is why you divide rather than multiply.
What is a 5-minute-per-kilometre pace in km/h?
Exactly 12 km/h. A 5:00 min/km pace means each kilometre takes five minutes, and since there are twelve five-minute blocks in an hour, you cover twelve kilometres per hour. In miles per hour that is about 7.46 mph. This is a solid, sustainable pace for many recreational runners and a common target for improving 5K and 10K race times.
How do I convert min/mile to min/km?
Divide your minutes-per-mile pace by 1.609 to get minutes per kilometre, because a mile is 1.609 kilometres and pace is time per distance. So an 8:00 min/mile pace is about 4:58 min/km. The converter handles this by reducing both to metres per second first, which avoids the common error of multiplying instead of dividing when moving between the longer and shorter distance units.
Why does pace go down as speed goes up?
Because pace measures the time to cover a fixed distance, so moving faster means spending less time per kilometre or mile — a smaller pace number. Speed measures distance per time, so it rises as you move faster. The two are inverses: as one increases the other decreases. This is exactly why the converter pivots through metres per second and inverts, rather than scaling by a single factor.
Why are zero or negative values rejected?
A pace or speed of zero would mean no movement, and dividing by it to find the reciprocal is undefined, while a negative pace or speed has no physical meaning for running or cycling. To keep results sensible, the converter returns a blank result for any value of zero or below. Enter a positive pace or speed, and the tool will produce the equivalent in your chosen unit.