4.5 mph is not walking, it's running for a petite female.

Yeah I can imagine, i'm 6ft5 and walk at around 4.1 mph

eh, not really. I'm 5'4'' and my natural walking pace is about 4.3 mph. I have tall parents and a tall boyfriend! I learned how to walk fast. 4.5 is not a run for me...not even a jog. My friends have spent years complaining "you walk too fast!"

So true haha - it's hard to work yourself up to 5mph to log it as running!

Speak for yourself! I'm only 5'2" and anything less than 5mph is walking for me. I run at 10mph.

If this is serious, I'm 100% terrified. 10 mph? Ho.ly.*kitten*.

Also, I'm 5'10" and new to running but 4.5 is a decent jog for me. I ran (it's running for me) at 5.0 the other day. I'd much rather jog/run that pace than walk it. But yeah, when I went to log my jogging at 4.5, I was like, "What is this?"

Why wouldn't I be serious? I'm a runner. And an ex national-level swimmer. I compete in long distance running events and triathlons.

*shrug*

Definitely. I'm 5'4", and even 4.0 mph is running for me. For running & walking, I don't use MFP's labels. I make my own. I use an HRM, so it's easier for me to do that.

I am only 5 ft tall and 4.5 is a brisk walk for me...

MFP calculations are estimates. If you feel like you are running you are likely burning what I burn going faster when I feel like I am running...

3 is normal walk
3.5 is moderate walk
3.8 is fast walk
4 is a jog
4.2 is running
4.5 is slightly faster running
4.8 is as fast as I can go and I can probably take it for 30 seconds

That last one sounded pretty dirty.

That, it did. It certainly did.

the point is...it has nothing to do with height...it has to do with speed, experience, whether you make effort to be a runner or use the treadmill as a cardio activity. I actively train to run as fast as my body will allow me to run. I do speed work, tempo runs, hill repeats...not for the weight loss benefits, while those being nice, but so that i can shave time off my mile splits.

If you are looking for accurate calorie burn you are best off with a quality HRM.

the point is...it has nothing to do with height...it has to do with speed, experience, whether you make effort to be a runner or use the treadmill as a cardio activity. I actively train to run as fast as my body will allow me to run. I do speed work, tempo runs, hill repeats...not for the weight loss benefits, while those being nice, but so that i can shave time off my mile splits.

If you are looking for accurate calorie burn you are best off with a quality HRM.

I don't agree with this at all.

I am a runner, I view running the same as you and do the same workouts. I rarely use the treadmill, however, if I am on the treadmill and decide to walk at a fast pace, if I turn it up to 4 or 4.5 I can't keep up at a walk, it is a jog.
I am not saying this is my "running speed", my running speed is faster than 4.5 MPH. I literally cannot walk at that pace.

I also have short legs.

In my youth, I walked everywhere. I stopped growing at 13. 5'2" and at my peak a fast walk then was about 3.5mph. the 6foot tall guys always out paced me, even when I was equally or more fit than them. Height should be a consideration for pacing a walk vs a run in regards to cardiac function and caloric burn. A 4mph stroll for a 6ft person would probably put a giraffe to sleep, food for thought... Anyhoo, yes mfp has it listed as a walk, and you could create your own entries. But as most noobs on here search the net, that pace is listed as a walk everywhere online. Best bet for true caloric and vocabulary accuracy would be to create your own entries calculating heart rates. I would also gladly use anyones' entries for short statured paces, but I'm not sweatin' it LOL

^^^^ I mean in the regards to calorie burn...4.5 is a brisk walk for me...but calorie burn wise it is a conditioning issue more than it is a height issue...I won't burn as much running or walking at 4.5mph as i will at 8mph...my mother might burn more at 4.5mph than I do at 8mph due to our level of training with that specific activity. My husband is quite tall and when he trains even a little he can run faster than me in a half marathon...but as of right now 4.5 kicks his *kitten*....so calorie burn wise it has more to do with HR than speed and that is the OP's question as I understood it.

I read it the opposite. Gotta love the internet.

4.5 is running! lol I'm 5'

Running is a gait, not a speed

Yes...!

My first 'introduction' to the relative difference in speeds, in the context of walking and running, and firsthand experience in witnessing just how remarkably different the associated speeds could be (let alone the 'effort') when someone who was walking was outpacing the heck out of someone who was running, goes all the way back to when I was a small child. In certain environments, my dad would suddenly begin walking very fast, as a 'joke' of sorts, given that my close-in-age sibling and I would then suddenly burst into running, to try and catch up to him -- and he found it comical and entertaining to see us 'bolt' in such a fashion, to try and keep up with him... (he'd keep looking back over his shoulder, to see where we were... and when we did catch up to him (only because he'd ultimately stop ), we'd tend to each 'hug' one of his legs, as though it were the trunk of a tree -- and as though either of us had the strength to 'keep him still'... (this seemed to then be a spontaneous 'cue' for him to try and alternately 'lift' each leg while a munchkin was still 'attached'... lol )).

I don't go by MFP any more my calories are always way different to what is stated. I use my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor. I find it so much easier to not have to worry about the difference. I'm 5'3 btw.

i'm 5'4 and have been jogging between 4.5 and 4.8 for the last few weeks. it really feels like a decent jog to me but when logging it i always get sad that i have to classify it as walking. and then when i mention to people that i've been running i always feel the need to discount it to "well its really at a fast walking pace".

i'm happy now. i worked hard to get up to this point!