What Does Pace Mean In Running

Spend any amount of time in the company of runners and the word pace is bound to crop up in conversation. That leads to the inevitable question of what does pace means in running.

The term pace in running refers to the speed that the runners are running. This is normally measured as minutes per mile or minutes per km. This allows for a finer measurement of speed than that used for cars and gives runners a way to check their speed each mile or kilometer.

Let’s take a closer look at what pace means and why we measure pace the way we do.

How Runners Describe Speed

If you had to spectate a running race and stand at a mile marker you will notice how all of the runners will check their watch as they pass the mile marker. They will be checking to see how quickly they completed that preceding mile to see if they are still on target for the projected finishing time.

The reason for this is that runners want to know their speed each and every mile. When I have a target time that I am trying for I need this information to make sure I’m not starting too fast or I’ll fade before the finish.

Measuring my speed in minutes per mile makes each mile a mini goal for me to aim at. Breaking the distance down into small achievable goals of one mile each is less intimidating than thinking about the full distance, especially if it is a new distance that I’m trying for the first time.

Why Runners Don’t Measure Speed The Same As Cars

Cars measure their speed in miles per hour or kilometers per hour. That unit of measurement is fine for the speeds that cars can travel.

However, we need something a lot finer for comparing running speeds.

By way of example, at the Tokyo 2020 marathon, the Eluid Kipchoge ran slower than 12mph to win the gold medal. Yet, the entire field was running faster than 10mph so clearly using mph for running speed is too coarse a unit of measurement.

If I were using miles per hour for all the runs I do, especially those in the mountains, my hard runs, and my easy runs would show up as running at the same speed. That wouldn’t be useful at all at gauging my training efforts.

What Is The Difference Between Minutes Per Mile And Minutes Per km

Where I live we use minutes per kilometer but in the UK and USA minutes per mile is what runners use to measure their speed/pace. Here is a simple table that will help you convert between the two types of running pace.