How is race velocity (m/min) calculated and why does it vary so much?

Güvercin Yeri · Updated: October 15, 2026 · About 7 min read

In race results you see a velocity next to each bird. In most result lists this value is given in metres per minute (m/min). In this article we explain how velocity is calculated, which values are considered normal, and why you need to be careful when comparing velocities from different races.

1. How is velocity calculated?

Velocity is found by dividing the distance the bird flew by its flying time:

Velocity (m/min) = Distance (metres) ÷ Flying time (minutes)

Flying time is the time elapsed from the moment of liberation to the moment the bird's arrival at the loft is registered by the electronic timing system or the clock record.

In classic club racing, each fancier's loft is at a different distance, so the distance is calculated separately for each bird and the ranking is based on velocity. In One Loft Races all birds return to the same loft, so the distance is the same for everyone; in that case ranking by velocity and ranking by arrival time give the same result.

2. Step-by-step example

Suppose the liberation took place at 08:50:00 and the loft is 312.4 km from the liberation point. Let the bird arrive at the loft at 13:12:30.

Distance: 312.4 km = 312,400 metres.
Time: from 08:50:00 to 13:12:30 is 4 hours 22 minutes 30 seconds. That makes 4 × 60 + 22 + 0.5 = 262.5 minutes.
Velocity: 312,400 ÷ 262.5 ≈ 1190.1 m/min.

The figures in this example are only meant to show the calculation; they are not a real race record. Be careful converting seconds to minutes: 30 seconds is 0.5 minutes, not 0.30 minutes. This is the most common mistake in calculations.

Velocity is sometimes also given in km/h. To convert, multiply the m/min value by 60 and divide by 1000: 1190 m/min ≈ 71.4 km/h.

3. Which velocities are normal?

Velocity depends more on the day's weather than on the quality of the bird. Based on general observations, the following ranges can be mentioned:

Conditions	Approximate velocity	Explanation
Normal / calm weather	900–1300 m/min	Conditions where the wind is light or neutral and the birds fly steadily on their own muscle power.
Fast race	1600–2000 m/min	Races helped by a strong, clean tailwind (wind blowing from behind).
Record level	2500–2950 m/min	Values seen very rarely, with storm-force winds blowing from behind.
Hard race	Below 900 m/min	Headwind, rain, heat or the flock breaking up.

The same bird may fly 1100 m/min one week and 1700 m/min the next. This difference comes more from the wind than from the bird's form.

4. How do wind and weather change velocity?

A bird's flying speed relative to the air does not change much; what changes is the movement of the air itself. A tailwind adds to the bird's speed over the ground, while a headwind subtracts from it. A crosswind forces the bird to keep correcting its course, so it both lengthens the time and can break up the flocks.

Temperature, humidity, rain and visibility also have an effect. In hot, humid weather birds tire more quickly; in fog or rain orientation becomes harder. That is why it is natural for there to be large differences between the winning velocities of two races flown over the same distance.

5. Comparing velocities from different races

Velocity is a strong measure for comparing birds within the same race, because all birds in that race fly from the same liberation time, in the same weather. Between different races, however, comparing raw velocity is misleading.

To assess a bird's performance across different races, use its position in that race and its proportion of the entries instead of velocity.
The gap relative to the winning velocity can be more meaningful: what percentage slower than the winner the bird was partly takes the day's conditions into account.
Short- and long-distance races demand different qualities; velocity alone does not show at which distance a bird is good.

We explain how to read race results as a whole in the article on interpreting race results.

The relationship between velocity and ranking

In classic racing, because the ranking is based on velocity, a difference of a few metres per minute between two birds means a difference in position. Distances are usually calculated as the straight-line distance between the geographical coordinates of the liberation point and the loft. That is why entering the loft coordinates correctly is important for the accuracy of the ranking.

In One Loft Races the distance is the same for everyone, so the difference between two birds' velocities comes only from the difference in their arrival times. In a long race, an arrival gap of a few seconds corresponds to a very small change in velocity; that is why result lists sometimes show velocities to several decimal places.

The effect of small differences: In a 300 km race, a bird arriving in 250 minutes has a velocity of 1200 m/min. A bird arriving 10 seconds (about 0.17 minutes) later in the same race has a velocity of about 1199.2 m/min. The difference is only 0.8 m/min, but in a race with a mass arrival those 10 seconds can mean dozens of places.

When checking the calculation

If you want to verify the velocity in a result list yourself, make sure you have converted the distance to metres and the time to minutes. Check whether the liberation time is given in local time or in a different time zone; especially when following races in other countries, a time zone difference can lead to a flying time that is wrong by several hours.