Walking speed

[Miss Chicken]

Does anyone know what would be an average walking speed for someone my age - I am a 51 year old woman?

Today I walked 3.15 kms, it took me a tad over an hour. However it wasn't on the flat. It included walking up the aptly named Hill Street followed by going up the last part the even more aptly named High Street (and it was a wonderful view from the top of High Street). This looked like it was going to be easy when I planned it on the map but I nearly freaked out when I looked up High Street and saw what was before me. I am rather pleased I made it.

On the flat I probably can walk at 4-4.5 km per hour. Is this a good speed or should I aim for 5 km per hour or more?

 

[backstept]

in my experience, walking speed depends on the length of your legs and the length of your stride

for instance, my brother is taller than I am, and he has a slightly quicker comfortable walking speed than I do, and sometimes when we're at the mall or somewhere else I have to tell him to slow down

 

[iguana_tonante]

in my experience, walking speed depends on the length of your legs and the length of your stride

for instance, my brother is taller than I am, and he has a slightly quicker comfortable walking speed than I do, and sometimes when we're at the mall or somewhere else I have to tell him to slow down

That's funny, because my experience has been almost the opposite. I'm very short for a man (5' 3"), but I always leave my taller friends behind when we walk, and they have usually to tell me to slow down.
Maybe that's because I have a very quick walking pace, and I always walk with full purpose: if I have to go from point A to point B, I do it in the quickest (but comfortable) way possible: the concept of "strolling about" is completely alien to me.
On the other hand, I'm probably the slowest runner on the planet, except for very short bursts (short legs and all).

 

[SmoothieX]

About a 15 minute mile is average from a comfortable, brisk walking speed.

 

[Miss Chicken]

About a 15 minute mile is average from a comfortable, brisk walking speed.

I am only managing about half that speed.

 

[Roger Wilco]

4-5 km/h is pretty average imo. If you want to work out or so you can try going faster of course, but to me 4 km/h doesn't sound particularly slow at all for a casual walk.

 

[Hermiod]

in my experience, walking speed depends on the length of your legs and the length of your stride

for instance, my brother is taller than I am, and he has a slightly quicker comfortable walking speed than I do, and sometimes when we're at the mall or somewhere else I have to tell him to slow down

Yes, it does. I am 6'4" and have disproportionately long legs. I can walk faster than pretty much anyone I've ever come across without trying. If I do try, people get left behind very quickly. It's very difficult for me to walk slowly.

 

[CuttingEdge100]

I have a pretty high walking speed and leave pretty much everybody in the dust if I'm not careful. I'm not the tallest person in the world, but I do have fairly long-legs for my height I'd say.

CuttingEdge100

 

[Starbreaker]

Darn metric system...

 

[Canadave]

4-5 km/h is pretty average imo. If you want to work out or so you can try going faster of course, but to me 4 km/h doesn't sound particularly slow at all for a casual walk.

Yeah, I agree. I'm a pretty fast walker, and I tend to walk between 6 and 7 km\h, so I'd call that a pretty reasonable speed.

 

[Strider]

It doesn't matter. Walk at speed that takes you out of your comfort zone. Over the next days and weeks, try to increase that speed. That's all.

 

[Garrovick]

I try to walk about 3 miles per hour. 3 miles is the distance from my front walk to the bank. Unfortunately, there are four controlled intersections in the route. Even with a green light and the walk sign illuminated, pedestrians are not afforded the right of way and must yield to driver's demanding that you wait for them to turn first. That means I walk for cardio and muscle toning, not speed.

 

[TJinLOCA]

I can't walk any faster than about 3.5 mph (about 5.5 kph). Any faster, and I have to break into a jog. (And even when I'm jogging, I seldom go faster than 5 mph/8 kph.)

It takes me 20 minutes to walk a mile (about 12-13 minutes per kilometer) at a comfortable walking pace. I'm 48 and 5' 4", for the record. Pretty much everyone I know is faster than I am.