Grade-Adjusted Pace Calculator
Your flat-equivalent pace on hills
AI logs your meals from a photo. Diet & workouts in one app.Get the free appActual pace per km
average gradient, e.g. 5 for uphill, -5 for downhill
Grade-Adjusted Pace Calculator
Running 6:00/km up a steep hill is a much harder effort than 6:00/km on the flat, so comparing raw pace across hilly and flat runs is misleading. Enter the pace you actually ran and the average gradient, and this calculator returns your grade-adjusted pace — the flat-ground pace that would have cost the same effort — using the Minetti cost-of-running model. Use it to pace climbs, compare trail and road sessions, and track fitness on routes that are never the same.
Grade-adjusted pace (GAP) converts the pace you ran on a slope into the pace that would have cost the same effort on flat ground. It uses the Minetti energy-cost-of-running model, so uphill running maps to a faster flat-equivalent pace and gentle downhills to a slightly slower one. Use GAP to compare hilly and flat runs fairly, pace climbs by effort, or judge whether a trail run was as hard as it felt.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is grade-adjusted pace (GAP)?
- Grade-adjusted pace converts your actual running pace on a hill into the equivalent pace you'd run on flat ground for the same effort. Because uphills slow you down and downhills speed you up, GAP lets you compare effort fairly across varied terrain.
- How do I use the grade-adjusted pace calculator?
- Enter your running pace and the hill gradient (percent incline or decline), and the tool returns your flat-equivalent GAP. This helps you judge whether a hilly run was actually harder than a flat one and pace your effort more consistently on rolling courses.
- Why is grade-adjusted pace useful for training?
- It lets you train by effort rather than raw pace, so an uphill stretch counts for the harder work it really is. Comparing GAP across runs makes progress clearer on hilly routes, where actual pace alone can be misleading.