PACER laps to distance and VO₂max

The two conversions

Distance. Each PACER lap is one 20 m length. Distance is laps times 20: 30 laps is 600 m, 50 laps is 1,000 m, 94 laps is 1,880 m.

VO₂max. Léger’s equation does not use the lap count. It uses the speed of the level your last lap falls in, S = 8 + 0.5 × level in km/h, and your age. So the estimate moves in steps: all laps in one level share one value. The full equation and a worked example are in Beep test score to VO₂max.

The table

The PACER and the beep test share one chart, the 8.0 km/h version. Laps are counted from the start. Distance is at the end of the level. VO₂max is in ml/kg/min for a runner whose last lap fell in that level, rounded to one decimal.

Level	Laps	Speed (km/h)	Distance at end	Adult	Age 15	Age 12
1	1 to 7	8.0	140 m	23.6	29.4	35.2
2	8 to 15	9.0	300 m	26.6	32.2	37.8
3	16 to 23	9.5	460 m	29.6	35.0	40.3
4	24 to 32	10.0	640 m	32.6	37.7	42.9
5	33 to 41	10.5	820 m	35.6	40.5	45.4
6	42 to 51	11.0	1,020 m	38.6	43.3	47.9
7	52 to 61	11.5	1,220 m	41.6	46.0	50.5
8	62 to 72	12.0	1,440 m	44.6	48.8	53.0
9	73 to 83	12.5	1,660 m	47.6	51.6	55.6
10	84 to 94	13.0	1,880 m	50.6	54.4	58.1
11	95 to 106	13.5	2,120 m	53.6	57.1	60.6
12	107 to 118	14.0	2,360 m	56.6	59.9	63.2
13	119 to 131	14.5	2,620 m	59.6	62.7	65.7
14	132 to 144	15.0	2,880 m	62.6	65.4	68.3
15	145 to 157	15.5	3,140 m	65.6	68.2	70.8
16	158 to 171	16.0	3,420 m	68.6	71.0	73.3
17	172 to 185	16.5	3,700 m	71.6	73.7	75.9
18	186 to 200	17.0	4,000 m	74.6	76.5	78.4
19	201 to 215	17.5	4,300 m	77.6	79.3	81.0
20	216 to 231	18.0	4,620 m	80.6	82.1	83.5
21	232 to 247	18.5	4,940 m	83.6	84.8	86.1

Level 1 is a special case. The equation counts 8.5 km/h for it, as in the 1988 protocol, while the chart above starts at 8.0 km/h. From level 2 the speeds are the same. The high values in the age 12 column are extrapolations, since few children that age reach those levels.

Three examples

A student stops at 41 laps. 41 × 20 = 820 m. Lap 41 is the last lap of level 5, so the adult value is 35.6 and the age 15 value is 40.5.

An adult stops at 76 laps. 76 × 20 = 1,520 m. Lap 76 is the fourth lap of level 9, so the estimate is 47.6. Laps 73 to 83 all give the same value, even though the distance differs by 200 m between them.

A 15-year-old reaches 94 laps. 94 × 20 = 1,880 m, end of level 10, estimate 54.4. One more lap puts the runner in level 11 and the value jumps to 57.1.

Reading the numbers

The table is a conversion of the lap count, not a measurement. In the 1988 study, estimated VO₂max tracked measured VO₂max with a correlation of 0.71 in children and 0.90 in adults, so an individual can sit several ml/kg/min away from the figure. It suits tracking one student against their earlier PACER. It is a poor basis for ranking two students.

The lap count tells you where the Healthy Fitness Zone minimum for an age falls on this chart. That table is in How many PACER laps should I get for my age?. How the test is counted and when it ends is in How is the PACER test scored?, and the laps per level are in How many laps are in each beep test level?.

To skip the lookup, the PACER score calculator takes any lap count and an age, and returns the level, speed, distance and estimated VO₂max.