Here's how many steps there are in a mile
Tracking your fitness has never been easier and there is a wealth of smartwatches, wearables and smartphone apps that will help you log everything from your daily training runs to detailed health data like your heart rate variability. One of the most basic functions of a fitness tracker though is steps – literally counting how many times you put each foot in front of the other throughout the day when walking or running.
For years, 10,000 steps have been the golden number to target per day, and for good reasons. Research shows that hitting five figures can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, while the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that doing it outside could also be beneficial for your mental health and ease anxiety and depression.
But what does 10,000 steps look like for a runner? And how many steps are there in a mile? Read on to find out just how many steps go into your regular runs.
How many steps are in a mile walking?
There are around 2,000 steps in a mile for the average walker, according to figures from the University of Wyoming. But that number will differ from person to person, depending on factors like height, overall fitness or even gender.
For example, a 5ft woman taking a leisurely 20 minutes to walk a mile will take an estimated 2,371 steps, while a 6ft 4ins man marching the same distance in 14 minutes will take just 1,732 steps – a difference of a whopping 639 steps, according to a study in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal.
How many steps are in a mile running?
There are around 1,500 steps in a mile running. But like walking, height, fitness and gender can all play their part. In the same Health and Fitness Journal study, the UK average for height (5ft 4ins woman, 5ft 10ins man) would take 1,943 and 1,817 steps respectively to run a 12-minute mile, while it would drop down to 1,082 and 1,001 for a 6-minute mile pace.
Why it’s important to know how many steps are in a mile
Knowing how many steps are in a mile can have surprising benefits. As well as helping you to manage your exercise regime, there’s growing evidence that paying close attention to how many steps you’re getting – whether it's on a couple of laps around the park or a longer run – will ultimately encourage you to log more, and keep your general health in check as a result.
Research published in 2020 found that simply wearing a pedometer to track step counts increased it in the short and long term. At four months, participants had increased their total by an average of 1,126 steps per day; although this slipped the longer the study lasted, people were still clocking up an additional 434 steps per day after 3-4 years.
While this might sound marginal, every little helps – a JAMA study from 2020 revealed that there were significantly lower rates of death from heart disease and cancer among those who logged 8,000 steps per day compared to 4,000 – or roughly 30 minutes of walking (two miles) or running (three miles). And when you look at it like that, hitting a step goal has never sounded less daunting.
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