A Comparison of Hispanic Middle School Students’ Performance, and Perceived and Actual Physical Exertion, on the Traditional and Treadmill One-mile Runs1

—The purpose of this study was to assess whether a treadmill mile is an acceptable FitnessGram® Test substitute for the traditional one-mile run for middle school boys and girls. Peak heart rate and perceived physical exertion of the participants were also measured to assess students’ eff ort. 48 boys and 40 girls participated, with approximately 85% classifi ed as Hispanic. Boys’ mean time for the traditional one-mile run, as well as peak heart rate and perceived exertion, were statistically signifi cantly faster and higher, respectively, than for the treadmill mile. Girls’ treadmill mile times were not statistically signifi cantly diff erent from the traditional one-mile run. There were no statistically signifi cant diff erences for girl’s peak heart rate or perceived exertion. The results suggest that providing middle school students a choice of completing the FitnessGram mile run in either traditional one-mile run or treadmill one-mile format may positively aff ect performance.