Treadmill speed to pace, converted
Written by Jamie Miller, Founder & EditorLast checked
A treadmill set to 10 km/h is a pace of 6:00 per kilometre, 9:39 per mile, and 6.2 mph. The full chart is below, from walking speed to 20 km/h. UK treadmills are almost always marked in km/h; most running apps and parkrun times are in minutes per kilometre, which is why the two need converting so often.
The chart below is the complete answer and does not need this box. The box is for the speeds between the rows.
Full treadmill pace chart
| Speed (km/h) | Speed (mph) | Pace / km | Pace / mile | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 1.9 | 20:00 | 32:11 | Walking |
| 3.5 | 2.2 | 17:09 | 27:35 | Walking |
| 4.0 | 2.5 | 15:00 | 24:08 | Walking |
| 4.5 | 2.8 | 13:20 | 21:27 | Walking |
| 5.0 | 3.1 | 12:00 | 19:19 | Brisk walk |
| 5.5 | 3.4 | 10:55 | 17:33 | Brisk walk |
| 6.0 | 3.7 | 10:00 | 16:06 | Brisk walk |
| 6.5 | 4.0 | 9:14 | 14:51 | Jog |
| 7.0 | 4.3 | 8:34 | 13:48 | Jog |
| 7.5 | 4.7 | 8:00 | 12:52 | Jog |
| 8.0 | 5.0 | 7:30 | 12:04 | Run |
| 8.5 | 5.3 | 7:04 | 11:22 | Run |
| 9.0 | 5.6 | 6:40 | 10:44 | Run |
| 9.5 | 5.9 | 6:19 | 10:10 | Run |
| 10.0 | 6.2 | 6:00 | 9:39 | Run |
| 10.5 | 6.5 | 5:43 | 9:12 | Run |
| 11.0 | 6.8 | 5:27 | 8:47 | Run |
| 11.5 | 7.1 | 5:13 | 8:24 | Run |
| 12.0 | 7.5 | 5:00 | 8:03 | Fast run |
| 12.5 | 7.8 | 4:48 | 7:43 | Fast run |
| 13.0 | 8.1 | 4:37 | 7:26 | Fast run |
| 13.5 | 8.4 | 4:27 | 7:09 | Fast run |
| 14.0 | 8.7 | 4:17 | 6:54 | Fast run |
| 14.5 | 9.0 | 4:08 | 6:40 | Fast run |
| 15.0 | 9.3 | 4:00 | 6:26 | Fast run |
| 15.5 | 9.6 | 3:52 | 6:14 | Fast run |
| 16.0 | 9.9 | 3:45 | 6:02 | Fast run |
| 16.5 | 10.3 | 3:38 | 5:51 | Fast run |
| 17.0 | 10.6 | 3:32 | 5:41 | Fast run |
| 17.5 | 10.9 | 3:26 | 5:31 | Fast run |
| 18.0 | 11.2 | 3:20 | 5:22 | Fast run |
| 18.5 | 11.5 | 3:15 | 5:13 | Fast run |
| 19.0 | 11.8 | 3:09 | 5:05 | Fast run |
| 19.5 | 12.1 | 3:05 | 4:57 | Fast run |
| 20.0 | 12.4 | 3:00 | 4:50 | Fast run |
How the conversion works
Pace is just speed turned inside out. Speed asks how far you go in an hour; pace asks how long one unit of distance takes. To get minutes per kilometre, divide 60 by the speed in km/h. At 12 km/h that is 60 ÷ 12 = 5 minutes per kilometre.
Miles need one more step, because a mile is 1.609344 kilometres. Multiply the pace per kilometre by 1.609344, or divide 96.56 by the speed in km/h. Every figure in the chart above is calculated that way and rounded to the nearest second.
Why your treadmill and your watch disagree
They often will, and the treadmill is usually the one that is wrong. A treadmill reports the speed it is commanding the motor to run at, not the speed the belt is actually moving. Belt slip under load, a worn belt, low deck lubrication and a heavier runner all push the real speed below the displayed one. Consumer machines are not calibrated instruments and most manufacturers do not publish a tolerance.
We have not measured this ourselves. We have no treadmill and no calibrated equipment, so we are not going to put a number on the typical error. If you want your own figure, mark a known length of belt, count revolutions over a timed minute and compare.
Common treadmill speeds, in context
- 5 km/h is an ordinary walking pace, 12:00 per km.
- 6.4 km/h is 4 mph, the brisk walk most step targets assume.
- 8 km/h is a steady jog at 7:30 per km.
- 12 km/h is 5:00 per km, a 25-minute 5k if held.
- 16 km/h is 3:45 per km, and the top speed of many home machines.
Conversions on this page are arithmetic, not measurement, so they carry no reliability mark. Marks appear wherever we state a fact about a product.