How many miles is a 10k?
A 10k is 6.2 miles, or exactly 10,000 metres. Twice a 5k, and about two hours on foot. Here is what it is in steps, minutes and calories, and how far it gets you on a real trail.
The numbers
10.0 km · 6.2 miles, in steps
| A child, 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) | about 20,100 steps |
| 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) | about 15,100 steps |
| 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in), the average adult | about 14,200 steps |
| 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) | about 13,400 steps |
| 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) | about 12,700 steps |
| A giraffe, 5.5 m (18 ft) | no idea, sorry |
Step length is about 41% of height. Give or take 10% for how you walk.
How long it takes to walk
| A stroll, 4 km/h | 2 h 30 min |
| A normal walk, 5 km/h | 2 h |
| A brisk walk, 6 km/h | 1 h 40 min |
Walking without stops, on level ground.
Calories, by body weight
| 55 kg (121 lb) | about 351 kcal (466 incl. resting) |
| 70 kg (154 lb) | about 446 kcal (593 incl. resting) |
| 85 kg (187 lb) | about 542 kcal (720 incl. resting) |
| 100 kg (220 lb) | about 637 kcal (847 incl. resting) |
The walk's own cost at 5 km/h. The second number adds what you would have burned sitting still, which is what some fitness trackers show.
Steps by height: How many steps is 10 km?
Try your own distance
Steps
about 14,200
12,800 to 15,600 depending on your stride, about 0.70 m a step at this height.
Distance
10.0 km · 6.2 miles
Time on foot
2 h
at 5 km/h, no stops
Calories
Depends on your weight more than anything else. Enter it to see an estimate.
That is 1/6 of the way to Everest Base Camp.
How many steps is a 10k?
About 14,200 steps for an adult of average height, from roughly 15,100 at 1.6 m to 12,700 at 1.9 m, because a walking step is about 41% of your height and a 1.7 m adult covers about 0.70 m a step. Your own count can sit 10% either side of the figure for your height.
How many calories does walking a 10k burn?
About 445 kcal for a 70 kg (154 lb) adult at a normal pace, from roughly 350 kcal at 55 kg (121 lb) to 635 kcal at 100 kg (220 lb). Body weight decides most of it. That is the walk’s own cost above sitting still. Some fitness trackers report the total including what you would have burned anyway, which comes out about a third higher. The figures come from a model of walking energy cost built on height, weight and speed, tested within a few percent of measured values across body sizes.
What a 10k is
Ten kilometres, exactly 10,000 metres, which is 6.214 miles. It is the second of the standard road distances set by World Athletics, twice a 5k and a little under half a half marathon, and it is the distance at which a race stops being something you can do on a whim. Walked, it is about two hours at a normal pace, an hour and forty minutes at a brisk one. Ten kilometres a day happens to be the daily distance of a walker on a serious long trail, which is what the route figure below is about.
Walk the distance first
A race is a day. The way to be ready for it, and the way to enjoy the same distance without a start line, is to walk it in pieces on the days you already have. A 10k is 1/6 of the way to Everest Base Camp, and reTrek is built for exactly that: pick a route, Everest Base Camp is free, and your everyday steps carry you along it with a short film waiting at each milestone. Something to look forward to. Progress you can see.
Walk it with a friend and pool your steps, or race them there, and find out which of you skips fewer evenings.
Other race distances
Sources: Road running disciplines and standard distances, World Athletics · Energy expenditure during level human walking, Ludlow and Weyand, Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016