Guide
How fast can you run? Sprint speed from a jog to the world record
What is a good sprint speed, in metres per second and km/h, and how a 100 m time turns into a speed. The world records, what footballers hit on a pitch, a few animals for scale, and how to find your own number.
The one number to hold in your head
The fastest a human has ever run 100 m is 9.58 s, Usain Bolt in Berlin in 2009. That is an average of 10.44 m/s, or 37.6 km/h, over the whole distance, starting from a standstill. The split analysis of that race puts his peak, over the fastest 10 m segment, at about 12.3 to 12.4 m/s, which is roughly 44 km/h.
Everything else on this page is a fraction of that. Most of us never learn what fraction, because measuring it used to need a track and timing gates. That is the number the watch can now give you.
Speed versus time
Runners think in times, the watch thinks in speed, and they are the same thing turned around. Speed is distance divided by time. A 100 m in 20 s is 5 m/s, which is 18 km/h. A 100 m in 12.5 s is 8 m/s, which is 28.8 km/h. Multiply metres per second by 3.6 to get km/h, and by 2.24 to get mph.
| 100 m time | m/s | km/h | Roughly who |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 s | 4.0 | 14.4 | A steady jog for a fit adult |
| 20 s | 5.0 | 18.0 | A fast run, not yet a sprint for most people |
| 16 s | 6.3 | 22.5 | A first genuine sprint for many adults who have not trained speed |
| 14 s | 7.1 | 25.7 | A fit recreational runner who sprints regularly |
| 12 s | 8.3 | 30.0 | A trained sprinter at club level |
| 11 s | 9.1 | 32.7 | A serious club sprinter |
| 10 s | 10.0 | 36.0 | The elite barrier, a handful of runners a year |
| 9.58 s | 10.44 | 37.6 | The world record, Berlin 2009 |
The bands in the last column are rough, deliberately. They describe an unhurried standing start over an exact 100 m, and they are what our own runners and the athletes we have read about report, not a study. Your age, your sex, your running history and the surface all move them. The two numbers that are not rough are the ones the watch can measure: your own speed today, and your own speed a month from now.
A note on the sexes: the women's 100 m record is 10.49 s, Florence Griffith-Joyner in Indianapolis in 1988, an average of 9.53 m/s, with a peak estimated at about 11.0 to 11.2 m/s. Both records are standing starts, all out, over an exact distance, which is a different test from a fast stretch inside a training run. SpeedRun shows them as reference marks and says so.
Peak speed and average speed are different numbers
Every sprint has a shape. You accelerate for the first 30 to 60 m, hold your top speed for a short while, and slow, even in a 100 m race. So there are two speeds worth knowing.
- Peak speed is the fastest instant. It is the number you feel, and the one people mean by "how fast can you run".
- Best average speed over 100, 200 or 400 m is distance divided by the time it took. It is the number that wins races, and the one that compares across days.
SpeedRun keeps both. The record screen shows your all-time top speed in m/s and km/h, and your best average separately for 100, 200 and 400 m, beside your rolling recent form, so you can tell whether you are getting faster or remembering a good day.
Some comparisons that are more fun than a chart
The app lets you set a goal against a few of these, with the caveat that they are approximate figures from match tracking and animal literature, not laboratory numbers.
- Kylian Mbappé's on-pitch top speed is widely reported at about 36 km/h, which is 10.2 m/s. Erling Haaland is close to it. Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah sit around 34 to 35 km/h. They hit those speeds in a match, with a ball in play, which is the part to admire.
- A fit dog sprints at about 35 km/h, 9.7 m/s. Most people never beat their dog.
- An elephant charges at about 24 km/h, 6.7 m/s. A lot of recreational runners can just about outrun one for 100 m, and it is a good first goal.
- A house cat at a sprint reaches about 48 km/h, faster than any human ever recorded. The cheetah, at about 104 km/h, is not a fair comparison for anybody.
How to find your own number
You need one warm-up and one honest effort. Jog for ten minutes. Run two strides, building to fast. Then tap SPRINT on the watch, take the 3-2-1 countdown, and run through 100 m before you ease off. Your peak and your 100 m average are on your wrist before your heart rate is back down, and the run is in Apple Health as a normal outdoor workout.
Then do it again next week on the same stretch of ground. The trend is the answer to the question, and it is the part no chart can tell you.
