What is considered GOOD mile time?

That's going to vary a LOT! I think most people can manage about a 10-11 minute mile when they are starting out, some maybe a bit slower. The more you run and work at it, the faster you will get, up to a point. I am slow. I am always going to be slow. I'm not even worried about being slow. But, I AM faster than I used to be. I have been running off and on for over 15 years but only started approaching it more seriously in the last two years, and I have gone from averaging a 10 minute mile to averaging about a 9 minute mile, with my fastest, giving-it-all-I've-got, all-out mile at 8:24. But, like I said, I am slow. I would think a fit, faster runner, a good time for women aged 25-40ish would be 7-8 minute miles. Then of course, there are the truly fast who are at more like 5-6 minute miles, but those are like Olympic caliber people.

Too variable to answer.

It depends on your age, gender, how long you've been running, how hard you've been training and how many miles you're talking about.

I haven't (recently) gone out to run a mile all-out to see what I can do but my marathon last month I averaged 8:48/mile over 26.2 miles. I ran a half-marathon in April and my pace was 7:50/mile. Did a 5K in the freaking hot weather last week and ran 7:26/mile. Pretty sure if I just did one mile I could get it down to 6-something without killing myself. I'm female, age 34, been running on & off for a decade and have done 5 full marathons, so I run quite a bit. A few years ago I was firmly in the 10:00/mile camp but I've trained harder, smarter and gotten faster with age.

Whatever was better than your previous mile times. Seriously, you only need to outdo yourself (well, unless you are training for the Olympics).

Doesn't matter you're still lapping everyone on the couch! lol But it's more about the calories you're burning rather than speed.

A good mile time is any one that you feel happy about completing. It varies per person, per day, per weather, per attitude, per a lot of different things.

I am going to assume that you can complete a mile without having to stop and walk.... that is the first goal... endurance and then we work on time.

I don't know what is considered GOOD mile time, but the police department in my city requires that cadets in training complete their mile in 8 minutes. That sort of stayed with me and now that is my goal. That is what I have adopted as a a goal to work for.
I think an 8 mile minute is a good goal to work towards. :happy:

I feel REALLY slow now. I ran a five miler on Sunday and averaged 11:30 per mile. And here I thought I was doing so well, LOL! I will probably NEVER run 8 minute miles, but I'm hoping to get to around 10 MM on long distance runs at some point. Right now, I am just thrilled to able to run five miles without dying--especially in this oppressive Nebraska heatwave.

That's going to vary a LOT! I think most people can manage about a 10-11 minute mile when they are starting out, some maybe a bit slower. The more you run and work at it, the faster you will get, up to a point. I am slow. I am always going to be slow. I'm not even worried about being slow. But, I AM faster than I used to be. I have been running off and on for over 15 years but only started approaching it more seriously in the last two years, and I have gone from averaging a 10 minute mile to averaging about a 9 minute mile, with my fastest, giving-it-all-I've-got, all-out mile at 8:24. But, like I said, I am slow. I would think a fit, faster runner, a good time for women aged 25-40ish would be 7-8 minute miles. Then of course, there are the truly fast who are at more like 5-6 minute miles, but those are like Olympic caliber people.

I definitely don't want this to feel like I'm picking on you, but wanted to point out that Olympic caliber women run around 4:20...I believe the world record is around 4:15. I competed in the mile in high school and college and ran a 4:55....this was decent for a division 1 athlete, but I wasn't anywhere near qualifying for NCAAs. I'm certainly a has-been and couldn't get anywhere near my best time right now, though.

To the OP, depending on where you started out, making any improvements on your mile time is exciting! It's all relevant. That's the beauty of running...If you're looking to be competitive in the mile, I'd say that depending on your age, running around 6-6:30 is great. But, I have a very good friend who struggled to run an 11 minute mile and she recently ran a 9:30 and I definitely celebrated with her because that is a huge drop in time.

For me... any mile I can run! LOL

Like all the previous posts have mentioned, too many variables and running is too individualized to say what is a good mile for someone.

When I started running my only goal was to anything under a 15 min/mile. My first half marathon was a 13:38 pace per mile, my best half marathon pace was 10:48. Awesome pace for me... but others may think that was slow! :laugh:

Any mile I complete and remain conscious, am not in need of medical attention and have not thrown up my breakfast is a successfull mile in my book!

That depends on a lot of different factors. For women a 'good' mile time is decidedly slower than what it would be for men. I run a comfortable mile at roughly 9-9:30 minutes. Because I'm both naturally slow and have shoddy knees, my all-out mile comes out to 8 minutes on a good day. I'm the slowest girl in my unit by quite a bit and I have a lot of trouble keeping up with formation runs. In that context my mile pace is terrible, but outside of that particular circle it's somewhat fast. It's all subjective.

my favorite quote of all time about running:

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit."

Running is you vs you, go as fast as you need to to feel successful and to beat down that little voice

Whatever was better than your previous mile times. Seriously, you only need to outdo yourself (well, unless you are training for the Olympics).

^^This

my favorite quote of all time about running:

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit."

Running is you vs you, go as fast as you need to to feel successful and to beat down that little voice

Love this! That little voice and I duke it out all the time!