1.5 Mile Police Test: Time Limit 13 Min

Hi. I'm a 36 year old male and a normal weight for my age and height of 5'11". I do eat healthy and I am in good health. I haven't run since last year. I have 6 weeks until I have the 1.5 mile test for a police exam. I'd like some help please. What do I need to do achieve the test? My time limit is 13 minutes. One of the issues I'm having also is the track close to me is outdoors and it is winter time. I do have a large basement in my house so I was going to measure out a distance and work in there when the weather doesn't permit outdoor running. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer by Dom:
Hi, thanks for your question about your 13 minute 1.5 mile police fitness test.

Look, 13 minutes for 1.5 miles? That's totally doable with your background. You're not starting from zero — you ran last year, you're healthy, and you've got the discipline to eat well. That foundation matters more than you might think.

Six weeks isn't great timing, but we can make it work if you follow what I'm about to tell you. People have passed similar tests with less time, though three months or more would've been better. You can find more specific preparation strategies in the police fitness test guide.

Here's how to approach this:

1. Assessing your current fitness gap
2. Making winter training work indoors and outdoors
3. Building your endurance base with easy running
4. Developing the speed you need for 13 minutes
5. Creating your 6-week training plan

1. Assessing your current fitness gap

The first thing to figure out: if you ran 1.5 miles tomorrow, what time would you hit?

This matters enormously. If you'd run it in 16 minutes right now, you've got a manageable 3-minute improvement to make. If you'd struggle to finish in 20 minutes, you're looking at a much steeper challenge.

Plenty of people underestimate their starting fitness, especially if they've been active in other ways. Walking regularly, playing sports occasionally, or even just being on your feet at work all contribute to your base.

Here's what to do: get out there this week and do a time trial. Don't kill yourself — but run the full distance at max speed and see where you land. You need that baseline to build your training around.

If you can't get outside, use a treadmill at a gym and set it to 1% incline to simulate outdoor running. This one test will tell you everything about how aggressive your training needs to be.

2. Making winter training work indoors and outdoors

Your basement idea made me chuckle — unless you've got a mansion-sized basement, that's going to be tricky!

But here's the thing: I used to train in Dutch winters with snow, ice, and brutal wind. And it is doable. You can train outdoors in winter conditions. You just need the right approach and gear.

For outdoor running, invest in proper shoes with grip — trail running shoes work well on icy paths. Layer up but don't overdress. You should feel slightly cold when you start. After 10 minutes of running, you'll be perfectly warm.

When conditions are genuinely dangerous — black ice, heavy snow, or temperatures below 10°F — that's when you need indoor alternatives. Your best bet is joining a gym with treadmills for six weeks. Many gyms offer short-term memberships, and it's worth the investment for your career.

If you can borrow or buy a cheap treadmill, even better. Set it to 1% incline for all your runs to simulate outdoor effort.

The basement could work for very easy recovery runs if you've got 50+ feet of straight line. You'd be shuffling slowly, which actually isn't terrible for building base fitness. But you can't do your speed work in there.

3. Building your endurance base with easy running

This is where most people preparing for fitness tests go wrong — they try to run hard every single day.

Your foundation needs to be built on easy running. That means a pace where you could hold a conversation. For you, that's probably around 10-11 minutes per mile right now.

You want to get comfortable running longer than 1.5 miles at this easy pace. Build up to 3-4 mile runs by week four. This builds your aerobic engine and makes 1.5 miles feel short.

Easy running also helps you recover between harder sessions. You'll be doing speed work twice a week, and you need your legs fresh for those key workouts.

Don't worry about feeling slow during these runs. Police recruits often panic because their easy runs feel too gentle. Trust the process — the fitness is building even when it doesn't feel challenging.

Start with 20-30 minutes of easy running and add 5 minutes each week. If you're training indoors, break up the monotony by varying your pace slightly every few minutes, but keep it conversational throughout.

4. Developing the speed you need for 13 minutes

13 minutes for 1.5 miles works out to 8:40 per mile pace. That's a decent clip — not elite, but you'll need to work for it.

Your speed work should focus on two things: getting comfortable at 8:40 pace, and running some segments faster so that 8:40 feels manageable on test day.

Start with fartlek running in week two. That's Swedish for "speed play" — you mix faster segments into an easy run. Try 6 x 1 minute hard with 2 minutes easy recovery. The hard segments should feel like an 8:00-8:30 pace.

By week four, you'll progress to more structured intervals. 4 x 400 meters (quarter mile) at 8:20 pace with 90 seconds walking recovery. Then 3 x 800 meters (half mile) at 8:40 pace — your exact test pace — with 2 minutes walking recovery.

The key is learning what 8:40 pace feels like so you don't go out too fast on test day. Too many people blow up in the final 800 meters because they ran the first half-mile in 3:30 instead of 4:20.

Practice running negative splits too — start slightly slower than 8:40 pace and gradually pick it up. This teaches you to finish strong when your legs are tired.

5. Creating your 6-week training plan

Here's exactly what to do each week:

Weeks 1-2: Build your base and assess your fitness.

• Monday: Easy run 25-30 minutes
• Tuesday: Rest or easy walk 20 minutes
• Wednesday: Time trial (week 1) or fartlek (week 2)
• Thursday: Easy run 20-25 minutes
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Easy run 35-40 minutes
• Sunday: Rest or easy walk 30 minutes

Weeks 3-4: Add structured speed work.

• Monday: Easy run 30-35 minutes
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Interval training (400m repeats week 3, 800m repeats week 4)
• Thursday: Easy run 25 minutes
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Easy run 40-45 minutes
• Sunday: Rest or easy walk

Weeks 5-6: Fine-tune and taper.

• Monday: Easy run 30 minutes
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Goal pace workout (3 x 800m at 8:40 pace)
• Thursday: Easy run 20 minutes
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Easy run 35 minutes with 3 x 30 seconds at test pace
• Sunday: Rest

Test week: Easy 20-minute run on Monday, rest Tuesday and Wednesday, test on Thursday or whenever scheduled.

The most important thing? Consistency beats perfection. Missing one workout won't derail you, but missing half your sessions will. Adjust the plan if you get sick or injured — your health comes first.

Many people face similar challenges - some need to reduce their 1.5 mile time by even more in the same timeframe. Others are out of shape but need to hit 13 minutes just like you. For those with even tighter deadlines, there are strategies for running 1.5 miles in less than 15 minutes with 1 month to train. There's also additional guidance for anyone needing running tips for police physical tests.

Hope this helps. You've got everything you need to pass this test if you commit to the work. Wishing you the best of luck with your police academy journey.
Dom

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