How Fast Can Humans Run?

Time for some fast facts and speedy stats! Wondering how fast the average human can run? Or their average sprint speed?

The average person can run a mile in 9 minutes and 48 seconds, according to data analysts Strava who looked at the stats from over 3000 runs recorded by runners of all ages and demographics.

Of course, these times are heavily influenced by a number of facts. How fast you can run depends on the following:

Your age
Your gender
Your height and weight
Your overall health
Your genetics

While most of us will never run like Usain Bolt (the Jamaican athlete can run over 23 miles in an hour!), paying attention to our pace is important if we want to maximize our mobility. People who walk more often and more briskly live longer than those who stroll.

The average human walking speed is around 3 mph or 4.8 km/hr. That means we’ve some way to go before we’re walking at a speed that boosts our health!

Need more motivation? Take a look at what the pro athletes are clocking in. The world’s best sprinters in both men’s and women’s athletic events set records and break limits. Pushing themselves to the limit, they’re racking up some impressive numbers.

Men’s World Records Translated Into Average Speeds

Event	Record	Athlete	mph	ft/s	km/h	m/s
60 m (indoor)	6.34 s	Christian Coleman	21.17	31.05	34.07	9.46
100 m	9.58 s	Usain Bolt	23.35	34.25	37.58	10.44
200 m	19.19 s	Usain Bolt	23.31	34.19	37.52	10.42
400 m	43.03 s	Wayde van Niekerk	20.79	30.50	33.47	9.30
800 m	1:40.91	David Rudisha	17.73	26.01	28.54	7.93
1,000 m	2:11.96	Noah Ngeny	16.96	24.87	27.29	7.58
1,500 m	3:26.00	Hicham El Geerrouj	16.28	23.88	26.21	7.28
Mile	3:43.13	Hicham El Geerrouj	16.13	23.65	25.96	7.21
5,000 m	12:37.35	Kenenisa Bekele	14.76	21.65	23.76	6.60
10,000 m	26:17.53	Kenenisa Bekele	14.18	20.80	22.82	6.34
Half Marathon	58:23	Zersenay Tadese	13.47	19.76	21.68	6.02
Marathon	2:01:39	Eliud Kipchoge	12.93	18.97	20.81	5.78
110 m hurdles	12.80 s	Aries Merritt	19.22	28.19	30.94	8.59
400 m hurdles	46.78 s	Kevin Young	19.13	28.05	30.78	8.55
4×100 m relay	36.84 s	Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt	24.12	35.37	38.81	10.78
4×200 m relay	1:18.63	Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown, Yohan Blake	22.76	33.38	36.63	10.17
4×400 m relay	2:54.29	Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson	20.54	30.12	33.05	9.18
4×800 m relay	7:02.43	Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich, Wilfred Bungei	16.96	24.87	27.29	7.58

Women’s World Records Translated Into Average Speeds

Event	Record	Athlete	mph	ft/s	km/h	m/s
60 m (indoor)	6.92	Irina Privalova	19.39	28.44	31.21	8.67
100 m	10.49 s	Florence Griffith Joyner	21.32	31.27	34.31	9.53
200 m	21.34 s	Florence Griffith Joyner	20.96	30.74	33.73	9.37
400 m	47.60 s	Marita Koch	18.79	27.60	30.24	8.40
800 m	1:53.28	Jarmila Kratochvílová	15.79	23.16	25.42	7.06
1,000 m	2:28.98	Svetlana Masterkova	15.01	22.01	24.16	6.71
1,500 m	3:50.07	Genzebe Dibaba	14.58	21.39	23.47	6.52
Mile	4:12.33	Sifan Hassan	14.27	20.92	22.96	6.38
5,000 m	14:11.15	Tirunesh Dibaba	13.13	19.26	21.13	5.87
10,000 m	29:17.45	Almaz Ayana	12.73	18.67	20.48	5.69
Half Marathon	1:04:31	Ababel Yeshaneh	12.19	17.88	19.62	5.45
Marathon	2:14:04	Brigid Kosgei	11.73	17.21	18.88	5.25
100 m hurdles	12.20 s	Kendra Harrison	18.34	26.89	29.51	8.20
400 m hurdles	52.16 s	Dalilah Muhammad	17.15	25.16	27.61	7.67
4×100 m relay	40.82 s	Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, Carmelita Jeter	21.92	32.15	35.28	9.80
4×200 m relay	1:27.46	LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander- Richardson, Nanceen Perry, Marion Jones	20.45	29.99	32.90	9.14
4×400 m relay	3:15.17	Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olga Bryzgina	18.34	26.90	29.52	8.20
4×800 m relay	7:50.17	Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya	15.23	22.34	24.52	6.81

It’s worth noting that the 60-meter race surprisingly has an average speed slower for men & women (compared to the 100-meter race). This is likely due to the process of acceleration at the beginning of a race (which inevitably adds up and takes time).

This article was last updated in May 2021.