Guide
Sprint pace chart, metres per second to km/h, mph, pace and 100 m time
A sprint speed conversion chart. Read any speed in m/s as km/h, mph and minutes per kilometre, and see the 100, 200 and 400 m time that speed gives if you could hold it the whole way.
How to read the chart
The watch shows your sprint speed in metres per second, because that is the unit the sensors measure in and the one sprint coaches use. Most runners think in minutes per kilometre, cyclists and drivers think in km/h or mph, and a track athlete thinks in the time for a distance. This chart is the same speed written all four ways.
The 100, 200 and 400 m columns are the time you would post if you held that speed for the whole distance. Nobody does, because every sprint starts from a standstill and slows at the end, so read them as the ceiling for a given top speed rather than a prediction. Your 100 m time is always longer than 100 divided by your peak.
| m/s | km/h | mph | pace | 100 m | 200 m | 400 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 14.4 | 8.9 | 4:10 /km | 25.0 s | 50.0 s | 1:40.0 |
| 4.5 | 16.2 | 10.1 | 3:42 /km | 22.2 s | 44.4 s | 1:28.9 |
| 5.0 | 18.0 | 11.2 | 3:20 /km | 20.0 s | 40.0 s | 1:20.0 |
| 5.5 | 19.8 | 12.3 | 3:02 /km | 18.2 s | 36.4 s | 1:12.7 |
| 6.0 | 21.6 | 13.4 | 2:47 /km | 16.7 s | 33.3 s | 1:06.7 |
| 6.5 | 23.4 | 14.5 | 2:34 /km | 15.4 s | 30.8 s | 1:01.5 |
| 7.0 | 25.2 | 15.7 | 2:23 /km | 14.3 s | 28.6 s | 57.1 s |
| 7.5 | 27.0 | 16.8 | 2:13 /km | 13.3 s | 26.7 s | 53.3 s |
| 8.0 | 28.8 | 17.9 | 2:05 /km | 12.5 s | 25.0 s | 50.0 s |
| 8.5 | 30.6 | 19.0 | 1:58 /km | 11.8 s | 23.5 s | 47.1 s |
| 9.0 | 32.4 | 20.1 | 1:51 /km | 11.1 s | 22.2 s | 44.4 s |
| 9.5 | 34.2 | 21.3 | 1:45 /km | 10.5 s | 21.1 s | 42.1 s |
| 10.0 | 36.0 | 22.4 | 1:40 /km | 10.0 s | 20.0 s | 40.0 s |
| 10.5 | 37.8 | 23.5 | 1:35 /km | 9.5 s | 19.0 s | 38.1 s |
| 11.0 | 39.6 | 24.6 | 1:31 /km | 9.1 s | 18.2 s | 36.4 s |
| 11.5 | 41.4 | 25.7 | 1:27 /km | 8.7 s | 17.4 s | 34.8 s |
| 12.0 | 43.2 | 26.8 | 1:23 /km | 8.3 s | 16.7 s | 33.3 s |
| 12.5 | 45.0 | 28.0 | 1:20 /km | 8.0 s | 16.0 s | 32.0 s |
Every number in the table is arithmetic, computed when the page is built, not typed. The formulas are below if you want to do it yourself.
The formulas
- km/h = m/s multiplied by 3.6
- mph = m/s multiplied by 2.237
- minutes per kilometre = 1000 divided by m/s, in seconds, then divided by 60
- time for a distance = distance in metres divided by m/s
- m/s from a 100 m time = 100 divided by the time in seconds
So a 100 m in 15 s is 6.67 m/s, 24 km/h, 14.9 mph, or a 2:30 per kilometre pace, which nobody holds for a kilometre.
Landmarks on the chart
- 4 to 5 m/s. A steady run for most fit adults. Marathon world record pace is just under 5.8 m/s, and it is held for two hours.
- 6 to 7 m/s. The first speeds most adults would call a sprint. Around 7 m/s the watch's speed ramp turns from cyan through lime, and a lot of people set their first goal here.
- 8 to 9 m/s. A trained recreational sprinter. Eight metres per second is a 12.5 s 100 m if you could hold it from the gun, and about a 14 s one from a real standing start.
- 9.3 m/s is the average speed of the 400 m world record, 43.03 s.
- 10.44 m/s is the average speed of the 100 m world record, 9.58 s.
- 12.3 to 12.4 m/s is the fastest a human has been measured over a 10 m segment, in that same race. The app treats any recorded peak at or above 12.5 m/s as a GPS artifact, not a record.
Where the app shows each unit
On the wrist you see metres per second, large, during the sprint, with the distance covered and your heart rate under it. The records screen on the iPhone shows your top speed in m/s and km/h side by side, and your best average speed for 100, 200 and 400 m as speeds and as the times they imply. Every workout is saved to Apple Health as an outdoor run, where Apple shows the same run in pace per kilometre, so the two views never disagree, they just use different units.
Why speed is the better training number
Pace per kilometre is a fine unit for a kilometre. Over 100 m it becomes a decimal nobody can feel. Speed in m/s is linear: 8 is exactly twice 4, a 0.2 m/s gain means the same thing at every level, and it is what the sensors measure directly rather than something derived from a distance you have not yet covered. That is why sprint coaches, biomechanics papers and this app all use it, and why the chart exists to translate for everybody else.
