Treadmill pace chart

Belt speeds in mph or km/h turned into pace per mile and per kilometre — and what an incline is really worth outdoors.

Treadmill speed

Display unit

Incline: 1.0%

Belt pace /mile: 8:34
Belt pace /km: 5:20
km/h: 11.27
Oxygen cost: 42.7

Outdoor flat equivalent8:12per mile7 mph at 1% incline

Equivalent uses the ACSM running equation (oxygen cost ml/kg/min shown left). It ignores air resistance, which is why 1% on the belt roughly equals flat road for most runners.

What an incline is worth

On a slope, every step also lifts your body. The American College of Sports Medicine estimates the oxygen cost of running as 0.2 × speed + 0.9 × speed × grade + 3.5 (speed in m/min). Each 1% of grade adds about 4.5% to the horizontal cost. Move the incline slider above and watch these bars.

Downhill running isn’t symmetrical — this equation only applies uphill, so the slider starts at 0%.

0%8:34

1%8:12

2%7:52

4%7:16

6%6:45

10%5:55

Right column: flat-road pace with the same oxygen cost.

Treadmill speed to pace

mph	km/h	Per mile	Per km	5K	10K	Half
3.0	4.8	20:00	12:26	1:02:08	2:04:16	4:22:11
3.2	5.1	18:45	11:39	58:15	1:56:30	4:05:48
3.4	5.5	17:39	10:58	54:50	1:49:39	3:51:21
3.6	5.8	16:40	10:21	51:47	1:43:34	3:38:29
3.8	6.1	15:47	9:49	49:03	1:38:07	3:26:59
4.0	6.4	15:00	9:19	46:36	1:33:12	3:16:38
4.2	6.8	14:17	8:53	44:23	1:28:46	3:07:17
4.4	7.1	13:38	8:28	42:22	1:24:44	2:58:46
4.6	7.4	13:03	8:06	40:31	1:21:03	2:51:00
4.8	7.7	12:30	7:46	38:50	1:17:40	2:43:52
5.0	8.0	12:00	7:27	37:17	1:14:34	2:37:19
5.2	8.4	11:32	7:10	35:51	1:11:42	2:31:16
5.4	8.7	11:07	6:54	34:31	1:09:02	2:25:40
5.6	9.0	10:43	6:39	33:17	1:06:35	2:20:27
5.8	9.3	10:21	6:26	32:08	1:04:17	2:15:37
6.0	9.7	10:00	6:13	31:04	1:02:08	2:11:06
6.2	10.0	9:41	6:01	30:04	1:00:08	2:06:52
6.4	10.3	9:22	5:50	29:08	58:15	2:02:54
6.6	10.6	9:05	5:39	28:15	56:29	1:59:11
6.8	10.9	8:49	5:29	27:25	54:50	1:55:40
7.0	11.3	8:34	5:20	26:38	53:16	1:52:22
7.2	11.6	8:20	5:11	25:53	51:47	1:49:15
7.4	11.9	8:06	5:02	25:11	50:23	1:46:18
7.6	12.2	7:54	4:54	24:32	49:03	1:43:30
7.8	12.6	7:42	4:47	23:54	47:48	1:40:50
8.0	12.9	7:30	4:40	23:18	46:36	1:38:19
8.2	13.2	7:19	4:33	22:44	45:28	1:35:55
8.4	13.5	7:09	4:26	22:12	44:23	1:33:38
8.6	13.8	6:59	4:20	21:41	43:21	1:31:28
8.8	14.2	6:49	4:14	21:11	42:22	1:29:23
9.0	14.5	6:40	4:09	20:43	41:25	1:27:24
9.2	14.8	6:31	4:03	20:16	40:31	1:25:30
9.4	15.1	6:23	3:58	19:50	39:40	1:23:41
9.6	15.4	6:15	3:53	19:25	38:50	1:21:56
9.8	15.8	6:07	3:48	19:01	38:03	1:20:16
10.0	16.1	6:00	3:44	18:38	37:17	1:18:39
10.2	16.4	5:53	3:39	18:17	36:33	1:17:07
10.4	16.7	5:46	3:35	17:55	35:51	1:15:38
10.6	17.1	5:40	3:31	17:35	35:10	1:14:12
10.8	17.4	5:33	3:27	17:16	34:31	1:12:50
11.0	17.7	5:27	3:23	16:57	33:54	1:11:30
11.2	18.0	5:21	3:20	16:39	33:17	1:10:14
11.4	18.3	5:16	3:16	16:21	32:42	1:09:00
11.6	18.7	5:10	3:13	16:04	32:08	1:07:48
11.8	19.0	5:05	3:10	15:48	31:36	1:06:39
12.0	19.3	5:00	3:06	15:32	31:04	1:05:33
12.2	19.6	4:55	3:03	15:17	30:34	1:04:28
12.4	20.0	4:50	3:00	15:02	30:04	1:03:26
12.6	20.3	4:46	2:58	14:48	29:35	1:02:26
12.8	20.6	4:41	2:55	14:34	29:08	1:01:27
13.0	20.9	4:37	2:52	14:20	28:41	1:00:30
13.2	21.2	4:33	2:49	14:07	28:15	59:35
13.4	21.6	4:29	2:47	13:55	27:49	58:42
13.6	21.9	4:25	2:44	13:42	27:25	57:50
13.8	22.2	4:21	2:42	13:30	27:01	57:00
14.0	22.5	4:17	2:40	13:19	26:38	56:11

Goal pace to treadmill speed

Know the pace you want? Find the speed to set. Rounded to the 0.1 steps most treadmills use.

Pace /mile	mph	Pace /km	km/h
5:00	12.0	3:06	19.3
5:30	10.9	3:25	17.6
6:00	10.0	3:44	16.1
6:30	9.2	4:02	14.9
7:00	8.6	4:21	13.8
7:30	8.0	4:40	12.9
8:00	7.5	4:58	12.1
8:30	7.1	5:17	11.4
9:00	6.7	5:36	10.7
9:30	6.3	5:54	10.2
10:00	6.0	6:13	9.7
10:30	5.7	6:31	9.2
11:00	5.5	6:50	8.8
11:30	5.2	7:09	8.4
12:00	5.0	7:27	8.0
12:30	4.8	7:46	7.7
13:00	4.6	8:05	7.4
13:30	4.4	8:23	7.2
14:00	4.3	8:42	6.9
14:30	4.1	9:01	6.7
15:00	4.0	9:19	6.4
15:30	3.9	9:38	6.2
16:00	3.8	9:57	6.0
16:30	3.6	10:15	5.9
17:00	3.5	10:34	5.7
17:30	3.4	10:52	5.5
18:00	3.3	11:11	5.4
18:30	3.2	11:30	5.2
19:00	3.2	11:48	5.1

Getting honest treadmill workouts

Most treadmills step in 0.1 mph or 0.1 km/h increments, so your exact outdoor pace may sit between two settings — round toward the slower one for easy runs and the faster for workouts. For interval sessions, set the speed from your VDOT training paces; for quick unit swaps without a treadmill, the pace converter handles every direction.

Questions runners ask

What pace is 6 mph on a treadmill?

10:00 per mile, or 6:13 per kilometre. 6 mph is 9.66 km/h.

What pace is 7 mph on a treadmill?

8:34 per mile, or 5:20 per kilometre. 7 mph is 11.27 km/h.

What pace is 10 mph?

6:00 per mile, or 3:44 per kilometre (16.09 km/h). Held for a half marathon, that pace would finish in about 1:18:39.

Should I set the treadmill to 1% incline?

Andrew Jones and Jonathan Doust (1996) found that a 1% incline best matched the oxygen cost of outdoor running at speeds between about 11 and 18 km/h, because there is no air resistance indoors. At slower speeds air resistance is tiny, so 0–0.5% is closer.

Why does treadmill running feel harder?

Heat builds up without airflow, the unchanging belt removes natural variation, and many treadmills are calibrated slightly off. A fan and a small incline make it feel closer to the road.

How do I convert km/h to pace?

Divide 60 by the speed to get minutes per kilometre: 12 km/h → 5.0 min/km, i.e. 5:00/km. For mph, 60 ÷ mph gives minutes per mile.

Are treadmill speeds accurate?

Belt speed can drift by a few percent, especially on older or heavily used machines. If your watch footpod or a known outdoor pace disagrees consistently, trust the outdoor reference.