What’s A Good Mile Time? Average Times To Run A Mile By Age + Sex

Most runners are somewhat naturally competitive and often look at what is considered a good 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon time to see how we stack up against our peers and others in our age group.

Another great test of your fitness and running level is how fast you can run the mile. Remember the dreaded 1-mile test from high school gym class? I sure do, and to be frank, it was not my favorite day of the year.

What is considered a “good” mile time will depend on several factors, such as your age, sex, fitness level, and running experience.

Running Level states a good mile time across all ages and sexes is 7:04.

We will consider all of these factors as we delve deep into mile times, check out the fastest mile times, and give you our expert tips on improving yours.

What is a Good Mile Time?

Running Level calculates running times based on age and ability and says that a good mile time across all ages and sexes is 7:04.

To break it down a bit more, a good mile time for a male is 6:37, and a good mile time for a female is 7:44.¹1 Mile Times By Age And Ability – Running Level. (n.d.). Runninglevel.com. https://runninglevel.com/running-times/1-mile-times

What Factors Can Impact Your Mile Time?

Deciding what a “good” average time to run a mile depends on several factors, such as your age, sex, ability, and fitness level. 

Regarding sex, male runners are often faster in most competitive distances due to genetically having more muscle mass and fast twist muscle density.  

Age is another factor that can vary greatly, as younger runners may lack development and experience, and older runners may feel a slight decline in performance.

Research suggests that the prime running age category is between 25-35. However, performance declines gradually as we age, which is excellent news for all of us over 40. We still have plenty of solid running years left!²August 2017 – Volume 31 – Issue 8 : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. (n.d.). Journals.lww.com. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2017/08000/Running_Performance

‌We can’t control our age, but we can control our fitness level. With the correct training, we can improve our mile time and running level in general.

‌Those average times to run a mile are based on an intermediate runner. Later on, we will look at the average mile time for all fitness levels.

Typical Mile Times By Age, Sex, and Ability

Defining Running Ability Levels

We used Jack Tupper Daniels’ VDOT levels (based on VO2 max) to define the ability levels we’ve included in our tables.

Daniels provides predicted times across different distances for each of the VDOT Levels for men and women (available here³Achieving running performance levels based on VDOT and age categories. (n.d.). Human Kinetics. https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/achieving-running-performance-levels-based-on-vdot-and-age-categories), which we’ve used in our table as the benchmark times for the 18-39 age range.

Here’s how we’d define each of the levels listed in our table, along with the VDOT that Daniels assigns to them:

• Beginner Runners (Male VDOT 35/Female VDOT 31.4): By beginner, we’re not referring to somebody straight off the couch who’s shown up to their first race with no training, as there’s too much variation in terms of baseline fitness and physique to provide a helpful guideline time. Instead, in this sense, we’d consider a beginner relatively new to middle-distance running, perhaps entering their first race but taking their training reasonably seriously and having a decent base level of fitness. However, they lack experience in building an effective training program and pacing themselves during a race.
• Novice (VDOT 40/35.8): You’re still running casually but with increasing experience and commitment to training. You’ve completed several races at this distance and want to improve your PB for each. Most runners will fall into one of these first two categories.
• Intermediate Recreational (VDOT 50/44.6): You’re taking running increasingly seriously, and it’s getting more difficult to beat your previous PBs. You might have joined an athletics club or started training with a running coach, and while you’re unlikely to be competing for local race victories, you’d be hoping to finish high up the field.
• High-Level Recreational (VDOT 60/53.4): You train seriously with a professional coach and are among the top-performing runners in your athletics club, competing for victories in local races. You are likely approaching the peak of your potential performance, with a substantial time investment in training each week.
• Sub-Elite (VDOT 70/62.2): You are one of the strongest runners in your region and may even compete nationally, although you’re unlikely to compete for the top positions.
• National Class (VDOT 75/66.6): You are one of the finest runners in your country, competing for victories against all but the very best athletes in the sport. You likely run full-time as a professional or make a flexible job fit around your training.
• Elite Runner (VDOT 80/71): You are at the pinnacle of the sport, competing for victories at the most prestigious races and representing your country at major international events.

Typical One Mile Times for Men by Age and Ability

Age Group	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate Recreational	High-Level Recreational	Sub-Elite	National Class	Elite	World Record
	VDOT 35 Level 1	VDOT 40 Level 2	VDOT 50 Level 4	VDOT 60 Level 6	VDOT 70 Level 8	VDOT 75 Level 9	VDOT 80 Level 10	–
18-39	8:00	7:05	5:50	4:55	4:20	4:05	3:50	3:43
40+	8:30	7:35	6:10	5:15	4:35	4:20	4:05	3:57
45+	9:00	8:00	6:30	5:35	4:50	4:35	4:20	4:10
50+	9:20	8:15	6:45	5:45	5:00	4:45	4:30	4:19
55+	9:55	8:45	7:10	6:05	5:20	5:00	4:45	4:35
60+	10:20	9:10	7:30	6:20	5:35	5:15	4:55	4:47
65+	10:40	9:25	7:45	6:35	5:45	5:25	5:05	4:56
70+	11:30	10:10	8:20	7:05	6:10	5:50	5:30	5:19
75+	12:15	10:55	8:55	7:35	6:35	6:15	5:55	5:41
80+	12:50	11:20	9:20	7:55	6:55	6:30	6:10	5:56

Typical One Mile Run Times for Women by Age and Ability

Age Group	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate Recreational	High-Level Recreational	Sub-Elite	National Class	Elite	World Record
	VDOT 31.4 Level 1	VDOT 35.8 Level 2	VDOT 44.6 Level 4	VDOT 53.4 Level 6	VDOT 62.2 Level 8	VDOT 66.6 Level 9	VDOT 71 Level 10	–
18-39	8:50	7:50	6:30	5:30	4:50	4:30	4:15	4:07
40+	9:25	8:25	6:55	5:50	5:05	4:50	4:35	4:23
45+	10:15	9:10	7:30	6:25	5:35	5:15	5:00	4:48
50+	10:35	9:30	7:45	6:35	5:45	5:25	5:10	4:57
55+	11:00	9:50	8:05	6:50	6:00	5:40	5:20	5:08
60+	11:40	10:25	8:35	7:20	6:20	6:00	5:40	5:28
65+	12:40	11:15	9:15	7:55	6:55	6:30	6:05	5:54
70+	14:10	12:40	10:25	8:50	7:45	7:15	6:55	6:38
75+	14:55	13:20	10:55	9:20	8:05	7:40	7:15	6:58
80+	16:10	14:30	11:55	10:05	8:50	8:20	7:50	7:34

How We Produced This Data

The tables above have been carefully created to give our readers performance benchmarks and to enable comparisons of relative performance adjusted for age and sex.

As mentioned, we used Jack Tupper Daniels’ VDOT Levels and associated predicted performances in our table as the benchmark times for the 18-39 age range.

For the age-graded world records, we’ve used the official records ratified by the World Association of Masters Athletes (WMA), correct as of 18 March 2024.

To translate the times for ability levels across different age grades, we used our 18-39 benchmark times to establish each ability level as a percentage of the world record for a given age group.

For example, our “elite” men’s mile time for the 18-39 range was 3:51, which is 103.59% of the world record of 3:43.

So, when calculating the “elite” times for other age grades, we multiplied the respective world records by 103.59%. We replicated this approach across all of the listed ability levels.

It should be noted that this method does create some inconsistencies, with the performance gaps between certain age groups being larger than others because a particular world record happens to be an outlier.

However, we found the resulting data more reliable and accurately represented the performance drop relative to age than we achieved when comparing our results to existing age-grade calculators.

For readability, we rounded all times to the nearest 5 seconds, except for all of the world records, which we left in their original form.

Related: What’s A Good Marathon Time? Average Marathon Times By Age + Sex

What Are the Current Fastest Mile Times?

The current world record holder for the mile distance in the men’s category is Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, with a time of 3:43.13. On July 7, 1999, this record was set at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. 

The women’s world record for the mile was set by Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, on July 21, 2023, with a time of 4:07.64.

These paces just seem out of this world, don’t they? I hope they have motivated you to work on yours.

As a UESCA and RRCA-certified running coach, I have provided my top tips to help you improve your time:

7 Ways to Improve My Mile Time

#1: Perfect Your Running Form

Improving your running form will, in turn, improve your running economy, resulting in faster mile times or improvement in any running speed and your running paces in general.

Here are some quick tips when focusing on your running form: 

• Keep your body properly aligned with your legs underneath you. When you step, try not to overstride but instead fall directly underneath you. Try to either fall on your mid-foot or forefoot as your footstrike to avoid injury.
• Keep shoulders back, down, and relaxed.
• Keep your arms bent at 90 degrees and gently swing them back and forth. Do not rotate your torso or swing your arms across the front of your body.
• Lean forward slightly, keeping your body aligned and not bending at the waist. 
• Hold your hands in a very light fist, relaxed. You can imagine you are holding potato chips in each hand. You don’t want to hold them so loosely that you may drop them and don’t want to squish them. Either way, you would lose your post-run snack!
• Keep your gaze forward, always looking 3-6 meters ahead.

To work on running form, you can add specific running drills into your warm-up routines, such as the 100-up drill, high knees, a-skips, b-skips, and pose method warm-up drills.

Adding a drill or two to your warm-up routine will remind your body of how it should operate while running and will prepare you for your workout ahead.

Also, while working on your form, try to focus on one aspect at a time so you can properly perfect it.

Trying to work on everything at once will be overwhelming and may slow your progress. Choose your biggest weakness and work on that first. Then, when you’ve got it, keep scrolling down the list.

#2: Work Your Top Speed

Speedwork or interval training at short distances and high intensities will help improve your top speed. This will improve your running fitness and speed in general and help you cut down your mile finish time. 

First, take a mile fitness test to determine your starting mile time and calculate your specific training paces for interval training.

Mile Test:

The best place to take a mile test is on a standard-sized track. Each loop is 400 meters, so your full mile would be four loops of the 400-meter track. 

1. Warm up for 15 minutes by jogging at an effortless pace.

2. Do 5 minutes of dynamic stretching.

3. Run your mile as fast as possible (as if it were a mile race) without burning out. It can be tricky to gauge if you are not used to taking these tests. I would advise starting a bit slower than you think you can run the mile and increasing your speed as you finish each loop, running your last loop all out.

Plug your total time into the following pace calculator.

Let’s look at an example using the female intermediate average mile time. If you plug that data into the calculator above, you will get the following training paces.

Mile total test time: 7:44
	Average Pace Per Kilometer	Average Pace Per Mile
Easy Pace	6:27-7:05/km	10:24 – 11:25/mile
Marathon Pace	5:53/km	9:28/mile
Threshold Pace	5:27/km	8:46/mile
Interval Pace	4:58/km	8:02/mile
Repetition Pace	4:38/km	7:28/mile

You will use your “repetition” pace for shorter interval training with complete rests and your “interval” pace for interval training with jogging recoveries. 

Include some high-intensity speedwork into your training to work on that top speed. Here’s an example of a 400 workout:

• Warm-up 10-15 minutes easy
• 6-12 x 400 meters repetition pace with 2-3 minutes of total rest in between each one 
• Cooldown 10 minutes easy

You can also work 200s, 600s, 800s, kilometers, etc. at repetition pace, or at interval pace with light jogs as recovery.

#3: Run To The Hills

In addition to interval training on the track or the road, you can add some hill work to increase your overall power, speed, and running economy.

Here is an example of a hill repeat workout to try: 

• Warm up for 10-15 minutes on flat terrain.
• Find a hill with roughly a 10% incline. 
• Run uphill for 20 seconds at a hard effort.
• Walk slowly back down to your starting point.
• Repeat ten times.
• Cool down for 10 minutes on flat terrain. 

If you don’t have hills near where you run, you can always do these workouts on a treadmill. Most treadmills can create a 15% grade incline.

#4: Work Your Endurance

Even though our current focus is improving our mile time, we must maintain our endurance and long-distance running capacity.

Short, intense workouts should only be a small portion of your weekly training plan, a maximum of twice a week, even for more advanced runners. 

The other days throughout the week should be easy runs at a very manageable effort level. The time and frequency of these runs will depend on your current fitness level. To build up your mileage, you can add about 10% more volume each week. 

These runs will help you recover sufficiently from your interval sessions and be able to jump back into the next one, ready and raring to go. At the same time, they will improve your overall endurance and aerobic conditioning.

#5: Hit The Gym

Strength training is critical for runners. It improves their strength, power, balance, coordination, speed, and endurance and helps prevent injury. All of these benefits contribute to a good mile time. 

Two strength training sessions per week, either on your own or with a personal trainer, should be enough to see improvement.

Here are some specific exercises that should find their way into your strength training program:

Begin by using just your body weight and, as you improve, move on to adding resistance, such as dumbbells and kettlebells.

If running is your priority, do your strength training routine after your runs so you don’t tire yourself out. Leaving 4-6 hours between sessions is ideal to give your body sufficient time to recuperate.

#6: Add Plyometrics To Your Strength Training Routine

In addition to adding the above strength training exercises to your gym workouts, plyometric exercises are also an excellent addition to improving your power, which is very important to run a fast mile time.

Plyometrics involve fast, explosive movements, usually involving some sort of jumping.

Some of the main benefits of plyometric exercises include improving stability, coordination, muscle and joint strength, cardiovascular conditioning, VO2 max, speed, endurance, and power!

Plyometrics can also improve your running economy in general, which will also help you to run faster.

Add a short circuit of 4 or 5 of these exercises at the end of your strength training sessions every so often. Not only will you reap the benefits listed above, but you will also finish off your workout with a metabolic blast.

#7: Improve Your Cadence

I’m certain you have read repeatedly that 180 steps per minute are the “ideal” number of steps for your stride rate or cadence. However, more realistically, anything over 170 will help improve your running economy. 

We can work our cadence, or turnover, in several different ways.

One method is to use a metronome set at 180 ticks per minute. You can also listen to music with a 180 beats-per-minute rhythm. Either way, while running with one of these methods, make sure you hit each foot to the pavement on each beat.

Be careful with posted playlists; some are posted as 180 BPM but are not always accurate. You can check the songs with this BPM counter app to be sure the number of beats is somewhere between 170-180.⁴BPM Counter – Apps on Google Play. (n.d.). Play.google.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023, from

‌Include small bouts of cadence work into one of your easy runs, just a few minutes here and there, to get those feet moving and help improve your cadence.

Focusing on your cadence is exhausting as you will tend to speed up naturally, so just add in a bit of this work every once in a while. 

You can also work your cadence by adding strides, or gradual accelerations and decelerations, to one of your easy runs during the week.

The following are a couple of examples of workouts where you can include strides: 

• 30-minute easy run with 10 x 10-second strides 
• 45-minute easy run with 8 x 15-second strides

Be sure to leave enough time between each stride to ensure your heart rate lowers enough for you to recover before adding the next burst.

Now you’ve got it all: the average mile times for age groups and levels across the board, plus plenty of ways you can work on improving yours. What are you waiting for? Grab those running shoes and let’s get training! 

Check out our training guides to shave down your 1-mile pace and total time: 

How To Run a 7 Minute Mile 

How To Run an 8 Minute Mile 

How To Run a 9 Minute Mile 

How To Run a 10 Minute Mile 

And if you are really ambitious, check out this next guide:

How To Run A 4-Minute Mile: Speed, Strength, + Workouts

References

• 1
  1 Mile Times By Age And Ability – Running Level. (n.d.). Runninglevel.com. https://runninglevel.com/running-times/1-mile-times
• 2
  August 2017 – Volume 31 – Issue 8 : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. (n.d.). Journals.lww.com. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2017/08000/Running_Performance
• 3
  Achieving running performance levels based on VDOT and age categories. (n.d.). Human Kinetics. https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/achieving-running-performance-levels-based-on-vdot-and-age-categories
• 4
  BPM Counter – Apps on Google Play. (n.d.). Play.google.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023, from