Determining stride length:
To do this, you will need to lay out a step course.  Here is one method.  Drive a stake in the ground as the starting point.  Measure a distance of 200 feet with a tape measure and drive in another stake.  Have the students walk at a natural pace from the start to the 200 foot stake and return.  Have them count by double-steps the number of steps it takes to go the 400 feet.  A double step means counting 1 step each time you put down your right foot (or left foot if you so choose).  Have the students figure out their pace by dividing the length covered (400 feet) by the number of double steps taken.  In order for the entire class to be able to do this at once, you can draw two lines on the field 200 feet apart.  It may be fun for the students to determine their 400 foot stride length at different walking and running paces.  Provide them with a 4x6 index card on which they can record their stride lengths for different paces.
 

Determining travel times:
It is also useful for people to know how differing terrain affects travel time, pace, and stride length.  While it might only take 15 minutes to walk a mile on a road, it may take  as long as  40 minutes in a wooded or mountainous setting.  There are similar variations in running times in varying terrain.  If practical, obtain an odometer wheel (a surveyor is likely to have one) and measure out a mile in a couple of different settings.  Have students walk and run the mile and record their times.  This type of information will be helpful to students in later units on hiking and backpacking so that they can estimate travel times and distances more accurately.  If this is not possible, use the chart below to give them a basic idea of the relationship of terrain to travel time.
 
 

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