How far can the average elderly / senior person walk in five minutes?

Question

I am doing an Urban Design project for uni on design for elderly people.

Answer 1

I know this wonderful Lady of 93 who jogs. I can't walk at all. I am 59. So it varies on the person and their health.

Answer 2

That is a broad range to narrow down. A half decent senior should be able to do about a quarter of a mile easily. That is a pace for a 20 minute mile or 3 miles an hour. Some in shape younger seniors could do more than that. Older seniors in only fair shape may only do a mile in a half hour, or 2 miles per hour, or one-sixth of a mile in 5 minutes. That would seem to be no more than up and back the block. Not that hard to imagine. Good Luck with your project!

Answer 3

I am not sure there is such a thing as an "average" senior person in this world. Seniors are not "elderly" by any means, my friend who is 70 is still skiing, golfing, running etc.

My own parents took up cross country skiing when they were close to 70 - and would go for miles.

There are thousands of seniors running marathons as well.

So seems impossible to mean to arrive at an "average" in terms of physical ability and wrong to classify seniors as "elderly" because 55 - 65 is NOT elderly

55-65 being the general age group in which one becomes classified as a senior depending on whether its senior discounts, pensions, etc

Answer 4

We didn't walk 5 miles one way, more like 5 miles round trip. it was a 45 to 50 min. walk each way to high school. We rarely if ever got a ride to school, maybe if it was really pouring rain or if we were almost coming down with something. Only had a bus service for 2 years during grade school, it was a 20 min. walk to the stop. After we moved to another town, we always walked both ways,got used to it but sometimes the wind blew so hard it was like one step forward and two steps backwards to get to school. Grew up in Simi, Calif, in the language of the native Americans that used to live there Simi means, Land of the Winds.

Answer 5

Flossi,

I can walk at a comfortable pace of about 1 mile per 20 minutes so I would say about 1/4 mile or so on the average.

Answer 6

I can do a mile in 20 minutes so 5 min would be a 1/4 mile.

Answer 7

Ha, that would depend upon the general health of the person. So a 20 minute mile might be o.k. for one and an hour for the next so average is arbitrary.

Answer 8

Ok, first let me clarify something. There are NO
AVERAGE elderly persons,
we are ALL ABOVE AVERAGE.
Secondly, I walk one mile to
the grocery store in about
10 minutes. How fast is that?
I walk slower coming home,
cause I'm usually eating
tater babies. (and passing some out to the little
Mexican kids I see along the
way.)

Answer 9

I really can't say, but I do know that my 91-year-old father walks many miles every day; he also runs a bit, and does a cute little hop that he is known for. He hasn't driven for years, and unless I am free to drive him around, he has to rely on his own two legs. He goes all over town, doing volunteer work 6 days a week, in all kinds of weather. I think it's what has kept him so healthy for so long.

Answer 10

I'd guess 1/4 of a mile.
A twenty minute mile is easy so five minutes would be 1/4 mile. My best guess.
Blessings Juju

Answer 11

I am blonde Flossie....I walk 3 miles in an hour and I am not up to math right now........LOL....ok, I guess that means 20 minutes per mile, 1/4 of that is 5 minutes so 1/4 mile...speedy Gonzalaz I am NOT