When you need this conversion
Training plans written in the other unit, treadmills that show speed instead of pace, race planning, and comparing with running partners or apps set to different units.
Pace and finish times at 5:30/km
- Pace per mile: 8:51
- Speed: 10.91 km/h or 6.78 mph
- 5K: 27:30
- 10K: 55:00
- Half marathon: 1:56:02
- Marathon: 3:52:04
Pace vs speed
Pace is time per distance; speed is distance per time. To get km/h, divide 60 by the pace in minutes: 5:30 is 5.5 minutes, and 60 ÷ 5.5 = 10.91 km/h. Treadmills in the US show mph, so use the mph figure there.
Common mistakes
Treating 5:30 as 5.30 minutes. It’s 5 minutes 30 seconds, which is 5.5 minutes.
Forgetting the extra distance in races. GPS watches often read 1–2% long in big races because runners don’t run the tangents. Plan for a slightly faster pace than the target.
For distances, use km to miles. For speeds, use mph to km/h.