The run-walk method
Yes, it's fine to walk during a run, on purpose and on a schedule. The run-walk method, associated with 1972 Olympian Jeff Galloway, alternates fixed intervals of running and walking through an entire session or race instead of running until you have to stop. The ratio depends on your pace: slower runners walk more often, faster runners walk less, and Galloway publishes a chart matching one to the other.
People ask this two ways: beginners wondering if walking mid-run means they're not really running yet, and more experienced runners wondering if scheduled walk breaks would help a long race. Both questions have the same answer underneath. Walking inside a run is a pacing choice, with a published ratio chart and at least one controlled study behind it.
Galloway's ratio chart, by pace
Jeff Galloway's method ties the run:walk ratio to your pace, predicted from a timed one-mile trial he calls the Magic Mile. The chart's walk breaks stay around 30 seconds down most of the mile-pace column; what changes is the running segment between them, from about 6 minutes at 7:00 pace down to 15 seconds or less at the slowest paces, so the walk breaks arrive before fatigue does. The table below is a condensed reading of Galloway's longer chart, which lists a row for nearly every half-minute of pace; only the entries relevant to most readers are shown here.
| Predicted mile pace | Run:walk ratio |
|---|---|
| 7:00 to 8:00 | Run 4 to 6 minutes, walk 30 seconds; at 7:00 pace the chart also lists an alternative of running a full mile before a single 40-second walk |
| 9:00 | Run 2 minutes, walk 30 seconds; or run 80 seconds, walk 20 seconds |
| 9:30 to 10:45 | Run 90 seconds, walk 30 seconds |
| 10:45 to 12:15 | Run 60 seconds, walk 30 seconds |
| 12:15 to 14:30 | Run 30 seconds, walk 30 seconds |
| Slower than 14:30 | Run 15 seconds or less, walk 30 seconds |
Source: Jeff Galloway's Magic Mile pace chart, jeffgalloway.com, verified August 25, 2026. NHS Couch to 5K uses a similar idea without the pace-matched chart: week 1 starts at 60 seconds running to 90 seconds walking and shortens the walks as fitness builds.
What the research actually says
The most directly relevant study is Hottenrott, Ludyga, Schulze, Gronwald and Jäger, "Does a run/walk strategy decrease cardiac stress during a marathon in non-elite runners?", Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2016;19(1):64-68. The study randomized 42 non-elite marathon runners to either a run-walk strategy or continuous running for an actual marathon, and measured cardiac and muscle biomarkers, including cardiac troponin, CK-MB and a natriuretic peptide (BNP), before the race, immediately after, and again a few days later.
Two findings, and they point in different directions. Finish times were statistically similar between the run-walk group and the continuous-running group; walking on a schedule didn't cost them the race. But cardiac stress markers rose by a similar amount in both groups, meaning the run-walk strategy didn't reduce the load on the heart during the marathon. Where the run-walk group came out ahead was muscle soreness: they reported less of it afterward than the continuous runners did.
That's a narrower claim than "walking makes running easier on your heart." It's closer to: run-walking gets you to the same finish time with less muscle discomfort, not with less cardiac stress. Continuous running has its own case, separate from this study: holding a steady effort for the full distance trains the specific fitness of running without stopping, which walk breaks don't train directly. Neither approach is the wrong one; they're suited to different goals and different current fitness levels.
None of this is a case for one ratio over another based on what anyone else is doing. The right comparison is your own last run, not a stranger's finish time or a faster friend's ratio. Runked's rank works on the same principle: everyone starts at Bronze, and it only moves based on your own runs.
Common mistakes with run-walk
- Running the run segments too fast. The ratio only works if the running pace matches what the chart assumes for that ratio. Sprinting the running blocks and then walking to recover isn't the same method, and it defeats the pacing it's built on.
- Waiting until you're already tired to start walking. Galloway's structure schedules walks from the first interval, before fatigue shows up. Walking only when you're gassed is a different, less effective habit wearing the same name.
- Treating it as beginner-only. The ratio chart runs all the way to sub-8:00 mile pace with short, infrequent walks. Faster runners use the same method at a different ratio.
- Guessing a ratio instead of matching it to pace. A ratio picked at random, rather than from the pace chart, either walks too much for the effort or not enough to give the running segments a real reset.
What to do next
If you haven't started running yet, how to start running when you're unfit covers the first two weeks before any ratio matters. If you're following a structured plan, the full Couch to 5K schedule shows how the walk breaks shrink week by week. And once you know roughly what pace you run at, average running pace by age and sex and what pace a beginner should run at help you pick a ratio that actually fits, rather than guessing.
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Download on App StoreFrequently asked questions
Is it OK to walk during a run?
Yes. Jeff Galloway, a 1972 Olympian, built an entire coaching method around scheduled walk breaks inside a run. NHS Couch to 5K uses the same structure from week 1. Walking on purpose, on a schedule, is a pacing strategy. It doesn't mean you're failing at running.
What run-walk ratio should beginners use?
Slower and more frequent than you'd guess. On Galloway's published ratio chart, a mile pace around 12 to 14 minutes pairs with 30 seconds running to 30 seconds walking, and anything slower than that pairs with even shorter running segments, down to 15 seconds or less. NHS Couch to 5K starts closer to 60 seconds running to 90 seconds walking. Either is a reasonable starting point. Pick the ratio to match your pace.
Can you finish a marathon run-walking?
Yes, and not necessarily slower. A 2016 study in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (Hottenrott et al.) randomized 42 non-elite marathoners to a run-walk strategy or continuous running for an actual marathon and found finish times were statistically similar between the two groups. The run-walk group reported less muscle soreness afterward.
Does walking count as training?
Yes, for building the aerobic base and the habit both. WHO and ACSM activity guidance counts brisk walking toward the same at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity that running counts toward (WHO's 2020 guideline range is 150 to 300). Runked's free tier logs a walk-run session as one activity toward your rank and streak; it doesn't score a run-walk session lower than a continuous one for being partly walked.