Race Shape › Calculators › Running pace calculator
CalculatorRunning pace calculator
Type a distance and a finish time to get your pace per kilometre, speed and even-pace splits — or switch to “pace” and get the finish time instead. Works for any distance from 5 km to Comrades.
Even-pace splits
| Distance | Clock |
|---|---|
| 5 km | 27:15 |
| 10 km | 54:31 |
| 15 km | 1:21:46 |
| 20 km | 1:49:01 |
| 21.1 km | 1:55:00 |
How pace works
Pace is time divided by distance: a 1:55 half marathon is 21.1 km in 115 minutes, so 5:27 per kilometre. Speed is the same thing turned upside down, kilometres per hour. Runners talk in pace because it maps onto a watch and onto a single kilometre of effort; cyclists talk in speed because wind and hills move it so much.
Even-pace splits are what you would see if you ran every kilometre identically. Nobody does, and on most courses nobody should: hills, drinks tables and a sensible start all move it. Their use is as a reference. If your 10 km split is a minute ahead of even pace in a half marathon, you went out too fast, and the last 5 km will tell you so.
Pace is not the same at altitude
At altitude the same effort produces a slower pace. A pace you can hold in Durban is harder in Johannesburg — about 8% harder at 1 753 m — so a goal pace copied from a sea-level plan is a trap for Gauteng runners. Convert it with the altitude pace calculator before you train to it.
From a pace to a plan
A goal pace is only useful if your training paces line up behind it: easy runs well slower, threshold a little quicker than half-marathon pace, intervals quicker again. The training pace calculator gives you all five from one recent race, and a Race Shape plan builds every session around them.
Goal paces
- Sub-30 5k pace — 6:00/km
- Sub-25 5k pace — 5:00/km
- Sub-22 5k pace — 4:24/km
- Sub-20 5k pace — 4:00/km
- Sub-18 5k pace — 3:36/km
- Sub-1 hour 10k pace — 6:00/km
- Sub-50 10k pace — 5:00/km
- Sub-45 10k pace — 4:30/km
- Sub-40 10k pace — 4:00/km
- Sub-2:30 half marathon pace — 7:07/km
- Sub-2:15 half marathon pace — 6:24/km
- Sub-2 hour half marathon pace — 5:41/km
- Sub-1:45 half marathon pace — 4:59/km
- Sub-1:30 half marathon pace — 4:16/km
- Sub-5 hour marathon pace — 7:07/km
- Sub-4:30 marathon pace — 6:24/km
- Sub-4 hour marathon pace — 5:41/km
- Sub-3:30 marathon pace — 4:59/km
- Sub-3:15 marathon pace — 4:37/km
- Sub-3 hour marathon pace — 4:16/km
Common questions
What pace do I need for a sub-2 half marathon?
An average of 5:41 per kilometre gets you to 21.1 km in just under two hours. Start no faster than that; the course and the last 5 km will take care of the rest.
What pace is a 4-hour marathon?
About 5:41 per kilometre too — 42.2 km in 3:59:59 is 5:41/km, and halfway at about 2:00:00. The marathon pace chart has every split.
How do I convert pace per mile to pace per kilometre?
Divide by 1.609. A 9:00 minute mile is about 5:35 per kilometre. The calculator shows both.
Should I run even splits?
On a flat course, close to it, with the first half no faster than the second. On a hilly course run even effort instead: slower up, quicker down, and let the average take care of itself.
Put this calculator on your club’s website
Free for running clubs, coaches, race organisers and bloggers. Copy the code below into any page that accepts HTML — WordPress, Wix and Squarespace all do — and your members get the same live running pace calculator, with nothing to install and no sign-up.
Keep the credit line under it, please: that is the only thing we ask in return.
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