No Equipment Necessary to Measure 400 Meters

Learn how to consistently measure off your paces and you can set up measured runs wherever you go.

When you first learn the skill, you need a reliable measure — the track is good, but 10 meter lines on flat, even ground is ideal.

The key is to use a comfortable, consistent pace, the one you can always, reliably adopt — your normal walk. Count the number of paces it takes you to cover 10 meters. Try it several times to be satisfied with consistency. Notice the variation if you change your speed.

Then check it against a measured 100 meter length. You should be within 2%. Remember your pace count. You can use it anywhere. Mine is 13.5 paces per 10 meters, 135 paces gets me 100 meters. I’ve tested it many times, I’m always within 1%.

If you find a situation with uneven terrain, your pace count should differ from an as-the-crow-fly’s linear measurement. That’s ok, your run will adapt to the terrain just like your walk will; though the linear distance may be slightly less, it’s still the equivalent of a normal 400 meter (or whatever) run for you, based on stride. For fitness / training purposes, this is appropriate: your strides have been weighted slightly for difficulty, and the number of strides is actually the truer, equivalent measure. (Only for objective navigation purposes, comparison with a map or distance-to-destinations, is this a problem.)