How Long Does It Take To Walk X Miles or X kilometers?

How Long Does It Take To Walk...

How long does it take to walk 1 mile?
Image courtesy of Ken Morrill CC-BY-2.0

The time it takes to walk a given distance depends on your walking speed.  Evaluation of walking speed determined the following typical walking speeds on a paved surface:

• Leisurely walking speed is 3.14 mph or 5.06 km/hr.  This is approximately the average human walking speed.
• Normal/purposeful walking speed is 4.22 mph or 6.80 km/hr
• Brisk walking speed is 5.88 mph or 9.47 km/hr

The brisk walking speed is walking nearly as fast as possible- it would take excellent physical conditioning to sustain this pace for very long.  Normal or leisurely walking speeds could be sustained for a long time with little or no special conditioning.  The walking conditions will also impact walking speed: walking uphill or walking in bad weather is likely to be slower.  The walking speeds considered are based on walking on a paved, level surface.

Walking Time Calculator

Use the Walking Time calculator below to check walking time for any distance:

• Enter the units you would like to use: miles, kilometers, or blocks
• Enter your walking speed: leisurely, purposeful, or brisk
• Enter the walking distance
• Click 'Compute'
• Results show how long it would take to walk the selected distance in seconds, minutes, and hours

Walking Time Calculator by Dr. Penny Pincher Copyright (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved http://pennypincherjournal.blogspot.com
Units: Miles Kilometers Blocks (650 feet)	Walking Speed: Leisurely (3.1 mph/5.1 km/hr) Purposeful (4.2 mph/6.8 km/hr) Brisk (5.9mph/9.5 km/hr)	Enter distance to Walk:
Result: Time to Walk= seconds
Result: Time to Walk= minutes
Result: Time to Walk= hours

* Remember to push the "Compute" button to update the result when you change units, walking speed, or distance!


For reference, the tables below show how long it would take to walk the given distance at each of the 3 walking speeds considered.  Note that the times provided do not include any breaks or rest stops and assumes that a steady walking pace is maintained.

Look up the walking time for a given distance in miles or kilometers below.  Walking time for distance in miles is given first, followed by kilometers (km).  Sometimes km is abbreviated simply as k, for example a 5k walk is 5km or about 3 miles.

How Long Does it Take to Walk 1 Mile?

One mile is a fairly short walk- you may be able to reach a local school or grocery store from your home with a one mile walk each way.

Leisurely walking speed: 19.1 minutes

Normal walking speed: 14.2 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 10.2 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 2 Miles?

A two mile walk is no problem for most people.  If you live in town, you can likely reach many schools and businesses with a 2 mile walk each way.

Leisurely walking speed: 38.2 minutes

Normal walking speed: 28.4 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 20.4 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 3 Miles?

A 3 mile walk is something you can easily accomplish during a 1 hour lunch break.

Leisurely walking speed: 58.1 minutes

Normal walking speed: 42.9 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 30.5 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 4 Miles?

Walking 4 miles may also be achievable during a lunch break if you are in good shape and have good walking conditions (good weather and flat walking surface).

Leisurely walking speed: 77.4 minutes

Normal walking speed: 57.1 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 40.7 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 5 Miles?

Walking five miles is more of a commitment.  You can walk across most small and medium size towns with a 5 mile walk each way.

Leisurely walking speed: 95.5 minutes

Normal walking speed: 71.0 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 51.0 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 10 Miles?

If you are stranded on the highway between towns, you might need to walk 10 miles to reach the next town.

Leisurely walking speed: 3.18 hours

Normal walking speed: 2.37 hours

Brisk walking speed: 1.70 hours

How Long Does it Take to Walk 100 Miles?

Walking one hundred miles without a break would be a long day- it would take about 24 hours at normal walking speed.

Leisurely walking speed: 31.8 hours

Normal walking speed: 23.7 hours

Brisk walking speed: 17.0 hours

How Long Does it Take to Walk 1 km (kilometer)?

One kilometer is a short walk- a few city blocks in most areas.

Leisurely walking speed: 11.9 minutes

Normal walking speed: 8.80 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 6.34 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 2 km (kilometers)?

A distance of two kilometers is a bit more than one mile, also a short walk for most people.

Leisurely walking speed: 23.7 minutes

Normal walking speed: 17.6 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 12.7 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 3 km (kilometers)?

You could walk 3 km during a 30 minute lunch break.

Leisurely walking speed: 36.1 minutes

Normal walking speed: 26.6 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 19.0 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 4 km (kilometers)?

If you are not ready to tackle a 4 mile walk, start with a 4 km walk.  It sounds almost as impressive!

Leisurely walking speed: 48.1 minutes

Normal walking speed: 35.5 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 25.3 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 5 km (kilometers)?

A five kilometer distance is equivalent to about 3 miles.  Most people can easily walk this distance.  A 5 km walk is also known as a 5 k walk.

Leisurely walking speed: 59.3 minutes

Normal walking speed: 44.1 minutes

Brisk walking speed: 31.7 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 10 km (kilometers)?

Ten kilometers is over 6 miles.  Walking this distance would take you across town in most small and medium sized cities.  At over an hour and a half at normal walking speed, a 10 k walk takes some commitment.

Leisurely walking speed: 1.98 hours

Normal walking speed: 1.47 hours

Brisk walking speed: 63.4 minutes

How Long Does it Take to Walk 100 km (kilometer)?

One hundred kilometers is a bit over 62 miles.  Walking 100 km would be a long day or night, taking over 12 hours to cover this distance.

Leisurely walking speed: 19.8 hours

Normal walking speed: 14.7 hours

Brisk walking speed: 10.6 hours

Recommended Reading:

How far would you need to walk to lose a pound?

Walking: How fast can you walk? How long does it take to walk a block?

Pedometer Test Drive: How accurate can a pedometer measure walking distance? Is a pedometer worth the money?

Penny Pincher Journal

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy

Perfect Multi-gym: Pull-up bar and more

Wanted: Pull-up bar that doesn't damage door frame or trim

Yesterday, my son reminded me that he wanted me to install a pull-up bar so he could do pull-ups.  I want to encourage him to exercise, and I would like to do pull-ups as well, so I wanted to get something right away.  When we lived on the farm, I made a pull-up bar in the barn using construction materials including a 4 foot section of steel pipe, a couple pipe hangers, and some long lag bolts.  The materials for this project cost about $15.  The steel pipe worked fine, but it would rotate in the hangers and it was a bit hard on hands- wearing gloves when doing pull-ups on the steel pipe was a good idea.

This pull-up bar needs to be installed inside the house.  I decided to look at purpose-made exercise equipment this time.  I knew I might pay a bit more than the $15 I spent hanging the steel pipe, but I wanted something that would be easy to install without damaging the house, and that would make it as easy as possible to do pull-ups.

Internet searching revealed a number of options.  The mounting of the pull-up bar was a key issue for me, I did not want something that required a lot of drilling and putting screws into a doorway.  I also decided to mount the pull-up bar in an unfinished basement.  There are stud walls with doorways, but these measure 34 1/8  inches since there is no door or door frame installed.  Many of the pull-up bars requires a narrower opening.

Perfect Multi-gym pull-up bar

I checked the shelf at the local Walmart store and found one that would fit a doorway up to 35 inches wide. It was the Perfect Multi-gym for $29.77.  This was a bit more than I was hoping to pay, but looked like a nice piece of equipment.  This unit installs without any screws or drilling in the doorway.  You can adjust the pull-up bar to fit the dimensions of your doorway, and it uses the trim of the doorway to keep it in place. Most of the weight presses against the door frame, not pulling down on the trim.

Perfect Multi-gym for pull-ups and more
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The Perfect Multi-gym has several places covered with foam that can be used for pull-ups to exercise different muscle groups.  The unit can also be easily removed from the doorway to use for push-ups, sit-ups, and other exercises.

Since my door frame is unfinished, it does not have trim.  I used 6 nails to hang a piece of 1x2 to act as the trim until we install a door.  The pull-up bar also comes with a safety clip that provides a catch to keep the pull-up bar from coming down from the doorway, which was easily installed behind the 1x2 trim.

Perfect Multi-gym pull-up bar installed in door frame
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Perfect Multi-gym pull-up bar installed in door frame uses trim for support
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The Perfect Pull-up Bar

The Perfect Multi-gym will make doing pull-ups easy.  The novelty factor is still high- I have done quite a few pull-ups already today, and I think my kids will use it a lot as well.  I installed it in a doorway so that the pull-up bar is a couple inches higher than the tallest person, so we can leave it in place all the time.  It is comfortable to use and seems well made.  The instructions were easy to follow, and I like that installing the unit does not require screwing or drilling into a door frame.

Recommended reading:

Pedometer Test Drive: How accurate can a pedometer measure walking distance? Is a pedometer worth the money?

Liquid Bandage: Effective for Protecting Cuts? Cheaper than Band-Aids?

Penny Pincher Journal
Copyright © 2013 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy

Pedometer Buying Guide

Pedometer Buying Guide

I have wanted to try a pedometer for years, but have not been able to pry the money out of my wallet.  There are several promising models in the under $30 price range:

Mio Step 2 Pedometer
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

• MIO Step 2 Pedometer, $17.  Uses "classic" 1 axis pendulum sensor, must be mounted vertically to count steps accurately.  Includes FM radio with ear buds.  Also has stopwatch, clock, and alarm clock.

• MIO Trace ACC-TEK Pedometer, $16.  Three axis sensor, Three axis sensor, claims accurate step count at any angle.  7 day memory.

• Omron HJ-321 Tri-Axis Pedometer, $17.  Three axis sensor, claims accurate step count at any angle.  7 day memory.

• Omron HJ-112 Pocket Pedometer, $23.  Dual axis sensor, can be positioned horizontally or vertically.  7 day memory.  Modes for two walking speeds-regular and brisk.

• Ozeri 4x3razor Digital Pocket 3D Pedometer, $29.  Three axis sensor, claims accurate step count at any angle.  7 day memory.

I found the MIO Step 2 at a store closing sale marked down from $16.99 to $7.48 and decided to give it a try.

Pedometer Test Drive

How accurate is a pedometer at measuring walking distance?  The sensor in a pedometer is able to count the number of steps that you take.  The pedometer converts this to walking distance using your stride length.  How does it know your stride length?  You input this based on what you think is your average stride length.  The fact that your stride length varies somewhat is the fundamental limitation on the potential accuracy of a pedometer to measure walking distance.

I clipped the Mio Step 2 on my waist after about 10 minutes of reading the direction sheet to figure out how to use it.  One of the steps is to determine your average stride length.  I laid out a tape measure in my garage and took 6 "normal" steps.  I divided the total distance by 6 to get my stride length.  The Mio Step 2 has a stride input mode where you can enter your stride length in inches.  My entry was: 26 inches.

I went on a walking trip and recorded my step count and calculated miles walked.  At home, I used Google Map Pedometer to check my route on a map and figure out the distance.  The results were not impressive.

Pedometer Distance Accuracy Using 26 Inch Stride
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The distance from Google Map Pedometer is not perfect, but I would expect accuracy on the order of 10's of feet.  The Mio Step 2 had significant error, about 15% or about 600 feet of error on a short walk!  Then I realized that this measurement is very sensitive to stride length.  I took the route distance in miles, converted to inches, and divided by the number of steps to get 30.8 inches.  I decided to try the same walk again using an input value of 31 inch stride length.  I repeated the same route twice to check step count consistency.

Pedometer Distance Accuracy Using Calibrated Stride (31 inch)
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Much better.  I would say as a rule of thumb you could expect the accuracy limit of a step-counting pedometer to be about 3% distance measurement error due to variation in stride length.  On both of the runs in the table above, I followed the same route at the same pace with the pedometer mounted vertically on my waist.  I have pretty good confidence in the step count, so the difference must be due to variation in my stride length.

Is a Pedometer Worth the Money?

If you want to keep track of your calories burned or distance walked, a pedometer could be a useful tool.

However, you can get a pretty good indication of how far you walk and how many calories you burn just by keeping track of the time.  For example, if you walk 4 mph and you go for a 1 hour walk, your distance is 4 miles.  If you burn about 300 calories per hour walking, and walk for 1 hour, then you burned 300 calories.

Also, if you walk the same route frequently, a pedometer will not be useful.  The main benefit of using a pedometer is to help keep track of walking in new places or if you take a variety of different routes.  Also a pedometer could give you a sense of your overall calorie consumption from walking throughout the day.

You can't go too far wrong in this price range.  If it helps motivate you to exercise and reach ideal weight, I say it's worth the money.

Mio Step 2 Pedometer Review

The Mio Step 2 has an FM radio, which is a nice feature.  It uses a CR2032 coin battery to run the radio.  With 225 mAh of power, I would expect it to run the radio for about 16 hours.  The computer/display uses a LR1130 button battery.  One concern was how much it will cost to replace the batteries- if the batteries cost more than $10 to replace, I'll probably never do it.  Good news- according to research at amazon.com, replacing both batteries will cost about $1.50.

Other features include a clock, stopwatch, and alarm clock.  The pedometer calculates calories burned on your walk using your body weight, distance walked, and time.

I did a 3 foot drop test of the Mio Step 2 onto a hard surface.  Accidently.  The Step 2 survived without damage.  The drop test was performed before the test drive.

I like the small size of the Step 2.  The only problem I have is that it is a bit awkward to keep it clipped to my waistband to keep it in the required vertical position.

Pedometer Recommendations

So which one to pick?  All of these pedometers have the fundamental limitation of measuring number of steps to determine distance walked.  Since your stride length varies, the accuracy is somewhat limited.  The models with 3 axis sensors would be much more convenient for most people.  The Mio Step 2 must be mounted vertically to count steps- clipping it to your waist is the only good place to mount it.

I recommend a 3 axis model that can be carried in a pocket, backpack, bag, purse, etc.  A 3 axis pedometer is much more convenient, and you are more likely to use it.

Here are some deals on 3 axis pedometers from amazon.com:

• All step counting pedometers are limited in accuracy since your stride length will vary.  Rule of thumb: expect 3% distance error.
• Calibrate your stride length on a walking trip of a known distance
• Look for a 3 axis sensor- this allows pedometer to work while carried in a pocket, etc.
• A light on the display would be useful for night walking
• A stride calibration feature would be useful- press buttons to indicate start and stop of a walk of a known distance, for example from one mile marker to the next on a walking trail.  The pedometer would automatically calculate your stride length.

Star Rating for Pedometers in General
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Star Rating for Mio Step 2 Pedometer
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

  Recommended Reading:
Walking: How fast can you walk? How long does it take to walk a block?
How Long Does It Take To Walk X Miles or X kilometers?

Penny Pincher Journal
Copyright © 2013 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy