Divide by 1609.344, or by 1600 for a quick guess
A mile is exactly 1609.344 metres (5280 feet × 0.3048 m). For mental maths, divide by 1600 instead — that treats a mile as four laps of a 400 m track, and lands within 0.6% of the real answer.
Common running distances in miles
| Metres | Miles | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 400 m | 0.249 | one track lap |
| 800 m | 0.497 | half-mile |
| 1500 m | 0.932 | metric mile |
| 1609.344 m | 1.000 | exactly one mile |
| 5000 m | 3.107 | 5K |
| 10000 m | 6.214 | 10K |
| 42195 m | 26.219 | marathon |
1600 metres is not quite a mile
Four laps of a standard 400 m track come to 1600 m, which people round to "a mile." A true mile is 9.344 m longer — small on paper, but a couple of seconds of running at race pace.
Four laps fall 9.344 m short of the mile, which is why the record mile is run on a marked 1609.344 m, not four laps.
- Land mile, not nautical. A nautical mile is 1852 m, about 15% longer — used at sea and in the air, not on roads.
- Quarter mile beats 400 m too. The drag-strip quarter mile is 402.336 m, so a 400 m lap is 2.3 m shorter.
Common questions
How many metres are in a mile?
Exactly 1609.344 metres. It is a precise figure, not a rounding: one mile is 5280 feet and a foot has been exactly 0.3048 metres since 1959, and 5280 times 0.3048 is 1609.344.
Is 1500 metres the same as a mile?
No. 1500 m is 0.932 miles, about 109 metres short of a full mile. The 1500 m and the mile are separate track events; the 1500 m is nicknamed the metric mile but is the shorter of the two.
How do I convert metres to miles in my head?
Divide by 1600 for a fast estimate; the error is under 0.6 percent. For 5000 m that gives 3.125 miles, against the exact 3.107.
