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Calculate the Calories Burned While Running with the Calorie Calculator

You can work out the calories you burn on a run by multiplying your weight in kilograms by the distance in kilometres by 1.036, and the calculator on this page does that sum for you, in miles or kilometres and in kilos, pounds or stone. Below you'll find why distance matters far more than speed, the formula itself, and a few foods so you can see how far you'd need to run to burn one off.

Let's face it — if you're looking to burn calories, you'd be hard pressed to find a better exercise than running. It's remarkably efficient when you weigh up how many calories you burn per minute of effort.

Here's something that surprises most people: the speed at which you run has very little effect on how many calories you burn.

It's almost all about distance.

Running one mile quickly versus running one mile slowly makes very little difference to your calorie total. Yes, going faster gets you there in less time — and it's true that running at a higher intensity does increase the calories you burn post-exercise. But here's the thing: you can only sustain high-intensity running for short periods, and your injury risk goes up considerably.

My advice to you would be to run a little slower, stay safe, and go further. You'll burn more calories that way — and you'll be able to keep doing it week after week.

Back to the calculator. The formula used here is:

Calories Burned = Your Weight in Kilograms * Distance You Run in Kilometres * 1.036

Don't worry if you don't know your weight in kg or your distance in km — the calculator handles the conversions for you.

I've also added a few foods to the calculator for fun — so you can see whether you've run far enough to justify a Big Mac or a slice of pizza. :)

Before my inbox fills up with complaints: I'm not advocating eating those foods. But knowing how far you'd need to run to burn one off can be a surprisingly useful motivator. It also gives you a sense of what running alone can do versus a sensible combination of running and a decent diet — which is, without question, the winning approach. Have a play with the calculator, then read on for some more useful context.

Calories Burned Calculator
Distance of the run is :	MilesKilometres
Use dots, no commas, if needed. So 26.2 miles, not 26,2...
Your weight is :	PoundsKilosStone
Press the button, don't click Enter
Calories burned during your run :
This is how far you have to run to burn off...
1 Mars bar (62.5g) (260 calories): km miles
1 slice of Cheese Pizza (230 calories): km miles
1 Big Mac (576 calories): km miles
1 Screwdriver (Vodka & Orange) (195 calories): km miles

Once you've got your number from the calculator, the next step is turning it into a plan — see how to use your calories burned in a deficit without swinging too far the other way.

This is one of the more popular calculators on the site — and I understand why. Many of us are managing our weight, and running is right at the heart of that effort.

The good news is that running is one of the best exercises you can choose when you want to lose weight.

But exercise is not the only element to weight loss — your diet matters enormously too. Knowing how many calories you burn on a run counts for very little if you're eating well beyond what you need.


The most important equation for weight loss is this:

Calories Consumed - Calories Burned

Consume fewer calories than you burn — and only then — will you lose weight.


So, how many calories is 1 pound of fat?

Want to lose 1 pound of fat?

Then you need to burn roughly 3,500 calories more than you take in.

Losing one pound per week is the equivalent of 3,500 calories divided by 7 days — that's 500 calories per day.

That's achievable. But it depends entirely on what you eat and how much you move.

So, how many calories should you consume? It depends on your age and activity levels. A useful tool is available on MyFitnessPal.com, which lets you set goals and track your intake.


For a healthy man aged 35, the advised daily calorie intake is around 2,500 calories. That's an average — and if you want to lose weight, you'll need to stay below that figure. Your number may be higher or lower depending on your work, your body, and how much you're running.

For a healthy woman aged 35, the advised daily calorie intake is considerably lower — around 1,700 calories per day. Again, that's an average. To lose weight, you'd need to come in below that figure.

Those are averages — not your number. If you want a figure built around your own body and training, calculate your full total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) as a runner and build your calorie target from there instead.

Now, that's a tough target to hit through diet alone. Suppose you do no exercise at all. To lose 1 pound per week, a woman eating 1,700 calories per day would need to cut her intake to 1,700 - 500 = 1,200 calories per day.

I'll be straight with you — 1,150 calories per day is dangerously low. You risk pushing your body into starvation mode, where your metabolism slows to compensate. The sensible minimum is 1,200 calories per day to keep things ticking over healthily.

That's not a path I'd recommend. It's not sustainable, and it doesn't work long-term.

A much better approach — and the one I'd point you towards — is to be reasonably disciplined about what you eat, keep things healthy, and use your running to create a modest calorie deficit on top of that.

Think about sustainable change — the kind you can stick with for a lifetime, not just a fortnight. Slow and steady wins the race.


Severe calorie restriction is tough to live with. Long-term, it is not a viable strategy — your metabolism will simply adjust to the reduced intake and learn to manage on less, making further progress harder and harder.

That's why regular running is such a valuable habit.

You can eat well, keep your metabolism working as it should, and let your running do the work of burning the fat. Diet and exercise together — that's the winning combination.

Also check the Runner's Diet page for more on healthy eating for runners. And for more advice on what type of running to do, how to get started, and much more, have a look at some of the pages below:

Some Other Pages You May Like

Home > Running for Weight Loss & Nutrition > Running Calorie Deficit Basics > Calories Burned Calculator

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