Many runners treat walking as evidence that the race is going badly. In long ultras, it can instead be a deliberate gait choice. Whether and when it helps is individual, so treat it as a strategy to test rather than a rule that guarantees durability or a finish.
Walking Is Strategy
In a 5K, walking usually means something went wrong. In a 24-hour race, a backyard ultra, a mountain 100, or a 200-mile race, walking can be the choice that protects the rest of the day.
Planned walking may help some runners control effort or handle terrain, and it can create a lower-attention window for practiced fueling. Those possible benefits depend on pace, environment, technique, and the rest of the plan; walking does not remove heat, injury, or medical risk.
When to Walk
- When a climb or surface pushes effort beyond the range you practiced.
- At a tested time or course cue if planned breaks keep effort smoother.
- Where race rules, congestion, footing, or visibility make running less safe.
- When a practiced walk makes eating or equipment checks easier.
- Whenever slowing is needed while arranging help for a non-urgent problem.
Walking is not the response to an emergency warning sign. Stop and seek race-medical help for confusion, fainting, chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, loss of coordination, or other acute symptoms.
Choosing Walking Cues
Ratios are tools, not laws. Use them to prevent pace surges and to make tasks predictable only after testing them. Observational studies describe walking during ultramarathons; they do not validate one ideal ratio for all runners.
| Cue | Possible response to test | What to monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Time based | Alternate repeatable run and walk blocks | Effort spikes, distraction, and cutoff margin |
| Loop based | Use the same tested landmark or low-risk section | Changing weather, crowding, and surface conditions |
| Terrain based | Change gait where walking improves control | Gradient, footing, pole rules, and technical skill |
| Condition based | Slow or stop when heat, cold, pain, or alertness changes | Whether symptoms require withdrawal or medical assessment |
How to Walk Fast
Walking speed is worth putting numbers on, because one kilometre per hour is a large amount of ground over a day. The conversions below are arithmetic: minutes per kilometre is 60 divided by the speed in km/h, and minutes per mile is that figure multiplied by 1.609344. The final column assumes the speed is held for a full 24 hours with no stops, which nobody does; it is a ceiling for comparing speeds, not a prediction.
| Speed | Per kilometre | Per mile | 24 h of continuous walking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 km/h | 12:00 | 19:19 | 120 km (74.6 mi) |
| 6 km/h | 10:00 | 16:06 | 144 km (89.5 mi) |
| 7 km/h | 8:34 | 13:48 | 168 km (104.4 mi) |
| 8 km/h | 7:30 | 12:04 | 192 km (119.3 mi) |
Cadence
Cadence is the one walking variable with usable published thresholds. Tudor-Locke et al. (2019) measured 76 adults aged 21-40 on a treadmill with indirect calorimetry and set heuristic thresholds of 100 steps per minute for moderate intensity (3 METs) and 130 steps per minute for vigorous intensity (6 METs); the accompanying narrative review of 38 studies reached the same 100 steps-per-minute value for moderate intensity. Brisk purposeful walking therefore sits roughly between 100 and 130 steps per minute for adults of that age, and cadence declines with age and body mass index.
Cadence and speed together fix stride length. At 6 km/h you cover 100 metres per minute, so 100 steps per minute is a 1.00 m step and 120 steps per minute is a 0.83 m step. At 7 km/h you cover 116.7 metres per minute, so 120 steps per minute is a 0.97 m step. When a walk feels slow, it is usually more productive to add steps than to reach for a longer one: a lengthened stride puts the foot further in front of the body, which brakes.
Gradient
Minetti et al. (2002) measured the energy cost of walking and running on 10 runners on a treadmill inclined from -45% to +45%. Per metre covered, walking was the cheaper gait throughout, but the size of the advantage collapses as the ground steepens:
| Gradient | Walking | Running | Running / walking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level | 1.64 J/kg/m (at 1.0 m/s) | 3.40 J/kg/m | 2.07 |
| +45% | 17.33 J/kg/m | 18.93 J/kg/m | 1.09 |
On the flat, running costs roughly twice as much per metre but is far faster, which is why you run. At +45% the penalty for walking is about 9%, and the speed advantage of running has largely gone too. Minetti also reported that the mechanical efficiency of walking above +15% reaches that of purely concentric muscle contraction, and that the optimum gradient for a mountain path is 20-30% for both gaits. The familiar rule of walking anything steeper than about 10-15% is a convention consistent with those findings, not a crossover point the study measured.
Technique still varies with anatomy and terrain, so experiment with posture and arm use at an easy effort, and use poles or a hands-on-thighs position on climbs only if race rules allow it and you have practiced it.
Worked Walking Examples
These are illustrative calculations from stated speeds, not predictions. They use the two run/walk patterns described in the 24-hour pacing strategy so the numbers do not contradict that page: a short 4:1 block and a longer 20-minute block. Both assume 10 km/h running and 6 km/h walking, and both assume the runner is stopped for a total of 2 hours across the 24, leaving 22 hours moving.
| Pattern | Distance per cycle | Average moving speed | Average moving pace | Distance in 22 moving hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 min run / 1 min walk | 0.667 + 0.100 = 0.767 km per 5 min | 9.2 km/h | 6:31 /km (10:30 /mi) | 202.4 km (125.8 mi) |
| 20 min run / 2 min walk | 3.333 + 0.200 = 3.533 km per 22 min | 9.6 km/h | 6:14 /km (10:02 /mi) | 212.0 km (131.7 mi) |
| Walking only | 0.100 km per minute | 6.0 km/h | 10:00 /km (16:06 /mi) | 132.0 km (82.0 mi) |
The first row works out as 4 minutes at 10 km/h = 0.667 km plus 1 minute at 6 km/h = 0.100 km, giving 0.767 km every 5 minutes, or 9.2 km/h. The 22-hour totals are that speed multiplied by 22. Note how small the difference between the two run/walk patterns is: 9.6 km/h against 9.2 km/h is under 10 km across a whole day, which is less than the cost of one badly managed stop.
What Walking Alone Gets You
The walking-only row is the one most runners underestimate. A runner who walks at 6 km/h and is stopped for 2 hours covers 132 km, or 82 miles. Dropping to 5 km/h gives 22 x 5 = 110 km (68.4 mi); lifting it to 7 km/h gives 154 km (95.7 mi). For scale, the median of all 52 published results at the September 2025 Self-Transcendence London 24-hour was 164.4 km, and the middle 50% of that field fell between 136.7 km and 183.2 km, as calculated in this site’s statistics report. A disciplined walk sits inside the bottom half of a real 24-hour field, which is why walkers finish these races.
Use comfort, control, and sustainable effort as feedback; sharp pain or worsening gait is a reason to reassess, not a technique problem to hide.
Train the Walk
If walking is part of the race plan, introduce it progressively within the training load you already tolerate. A qualified coach can help set duration and frequency when injury history or current symptoms matter.
- Try a brief, tolerable walking block before extending it.
- Compare time-, loop-, and terrain-based cues without forcing volume.
- Practice relevant climbs only when the terrain and current training support it.
- Use selected walking blocks to test the complete fueling plan.
- Test race footwear and socks without assuming they prevent foot problems.
Common Mistakes
- Copying another runner's ratio without testing it.
- Accelerating abruptly after each walk to "make up time."
- Ignoring cutoffs, terrain, weather, or a changing medical condition.
- Treating walking as a way to continue through an emergency warning sign.
- Using a race-day gait, footwear, or poles that were not practiced.
For timed events, combine this with the 24-hour pacing strategy.
Sources
- Inoue et al. (2019) - pacing behavior and time spent at walking speeds in a 24-hour ultramarathon
- Kerhervé et al. (2016) - observed pacing on level, uphill, and downhill sections of a hilly ultramarathon
- Tudor-Locke, C. et al. (2019) - Walking cadence (steps/min) and intensity in 21-40 year olds: CADENCE-adults. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 16(1), 8. Heuristic thresholds of 100 steps/min (3 METs) and 130 steps/min (6 METs) in 76 adults.
- Tudor-Locke, C. et al. (2018) - How fast is fast enough? Walking cadence (steps/min) as a practical estimate of intensity in adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(12), 776-788. Narrative review of 38 studies.
- Minetti, A.E. et al. (2002) - Energy cost of walking and running at extreme uphill and downhill slopes. Journal of Applied Physiology, 93(3), 1039-1046. Ten runners, treadmill gradients from -45% to +45%.
- Multiday Running - 25 Multiday Running Statistics for 2026, calculated from the official Self-Transcendence London 24-hour 2025 results.
- International Trail Running Association - Safety, Health and Rescue guidance
Frequently Asked Questions
Is walking in an ultramarathon normal?
Yes. Walking is common in long ultramarathons and can be a deliberate pacing choice. Whether it improves a particular runner's outcome depends on terrain, conditions, fitness, cutoff requirements, and a pattern tested in training.
What is a good run-walk ratio for a 24-hour race?
No ratio has been shown to be optimal, so pick one by the average speed it produces. A 4:1 pattern of four minutes running at 10 km/h and one minute walking at 6 km/h averages 9.2 km/h; a 20-minute run with a 2-minute walk at the same two speeds averages 9.6 km/h. Test whichever you choose on the actual terrain, and check that the resulting average leaves the cutoff margin you need.
Should you walk hills in an ultra?
Per metre covered, walking costs less energy than running at every gradient Minetti et al. (2002) measured, and the gap narrows from about 2:1 on the flat to about 1.09:1 at a 45% gradient, so running buys speed rather than efficiency. The common practical threshold of walking anything steeper than roughly 10-15% is a convention, not a measured crossover; gradient, surface, weather, skill, fatigue, and cutoff all move it.