What is a good running economy?
Elite distance runners sit around 0.180 mL O₂/kg/m at a 16 km/h reference speed and moderately trained runners around 0.195. Recreational values run higher, and the ladder above 0.195 is interpolated rather than measured.
The measured reference points come from Barnes and Kilding's review, at a standard 16 km/h treadmill speed: elite marathoners around 0.180 mL O₂/kg/m, moderately trained runners around 0.195. Those two tiers are grounded in published data.
The tiers above them are not, and it is worth being explicit about that. Recreational runners are generally not tested at 16 km/h, because most cannot sustain it, so there is no measured recreational row at the reference speed. Values around 0.205 and 0.220 used on this site interpolate toward the published extreme bound of roughly 0.290 for untrained runners, to keep the scale continuous across abilities. They are calibrated, not measured.
What this means practically: use the number as a relative marker of your own progress rather than as a grade. A recreational runner comparing themselves against an elite reference is comparing against the top of the distribution, and the gap is mostly structural — years of accumulated training, tendon stiffness and body composition.
It also means treating any single reading with suspicion. Economy varies with speed, surface, shoes, fatigue and even time of day, and field estimates from wearable metrics carry considerably more error than lab measurement.
Key numbers
| Elite | 0.180 | measured, Barnes & Kilding 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Trained | 0.195 | measured |
| Moderate / recreational | 0.205 / 0.220 | interpolated, not measured |
| Untrained upper bound | ~0.290 | published extreme |
Work it out for yourself
Running economy calculator — Place your own estimated cost of running on the full ability range.
Frequently asked questions
How is running economy measured?
Properly, in a lab: submaximal treadmill running at a fixed speed with expired-gas analysis, reported as oxygen uptake per kilogram per minute and converted to a per-metre cost. Field estimates from wearable biomechanics are inference, not measurement, and carry substantially more error.
Does body weight affect running economy?
Because economy is expressed per kilogram, the direct arithmetic effect is removed. Body composition still matters — carrying less non-functional mass reduces the absolute energy cost of moving — but chasing economy through weight loss has obvious risks and a poor track record.
Sources
- Barnes & Kilding (2015). Running economy: measurement, norms, and determining factors. Sports Medicine - Open.
- Barnes & Kilding (2019). A randomized crossover study investigating the running economy of highly-trained runners in shoes. Sports Medicine.
Related explainers
Glossary: Cr (Cost of Running)