Running Calorie Calculator
A 155 lb runner covering 3 miles in 30 minutes at 6 mph burns about 362 calories. This running calorie calculator estimates your burn from your weight, running speed, and time on the road or trail. It uses MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the same reference researchers use, so a 10 mph sprint pace scores nearly double the burn rate of a relaxed 12 minute mile jog.
Quick answer
Calories burned depend on three things, your body weight, your running speed, and how long you run.
Calories burned
362 calories
Calories per hour
723
Distance (miles)
3
MET value
9.8
Pace per mile
10:00
What this tells you
- •Calories burned depend on three things, your body weight, your running speed, and how long you run.
- •Each speed has a MET value, a multiple of resting energy use. Running at 6 mph is 9.8 METs, meaning 9.8 times the calories you burn sitting still.
- •The formula is calories per minute = MET x 3.5 x weight in kg / 200.
- •Heavier runners burn more calories at the same speed because moving more mass takes more energy.
- •This tool is separate from a pace calculator. It answers energy burned, not time or splits.
How to Use
- 1Enter your body weight and pick pounds or kilograms.
- 2Enter how many minutes you ran or plan to run.
- 3Choose your running speed from the list. If you are not sure, 6 mph, a 10 minute mile, is a common training pace.
- 4Read the total calories burned, plus the hourly burn rate, distance, and pace per mile.
- 5Compare a few speeds to see how much faster running raises your burn for the same time out.
How It Works
Formula
calories per minute = MET x 3.5 x weight (kg) / 200MET stands for metabolic equivalent of task. Sitting quietly is 1 MET, and each running speed has a measured MET value, from 8.3 at a 12 minute mile jog up to 14.5 at a 6 minute mile. Multiply the MET by 3.5, then by your weight in kilograms, and divide by 200 to get calories per minute. Multiply by your running time for the total. For example, a 70.3 kg (155 lb) person at 9.8 METs burns about 12.1 calories a minute, so a 30 minute run at 6 mph burns about 362 calories.
Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.
Worked Examples
30 minute run at 6.0 mph, 155 lb person
155 lb is 70.3 kg. At 9.8 METs, that is about 12.1 calories a minute, times 30 minutes.
20 minute run at 8.0 mph, 180 lb person
180 lb is 81.6 kg. At 11.8 METs, the burn rate is about 16.9 calories a minute for 20 minutes.
45 minute jog at 5.0 mph, 70 kg person
At 8.3 METs, a 70 kg person burns about 10.2 calories a minute, times 45 minutes.
60 minute run at 7.0 mph, 155 lb person
At 11.0 METs and a pace near 8:34 per mile, this runner covers about 7 miles in the hour.
Calories Burned Running 30 Minutes by Pace
Estimated calories for a 155 lb (70.3 kg) runner over 30 minutes at each speed.
| Pace | MET | Calories in 30 min |
|---|---|---|
| 5.0 mph, 12 min/mile jog | 8.3 | 306 |
| 6.0 mph, 10 min/mile | 9.8 | 362 |
| 7.0 mph, 8.5 min/mile | 11.0 | 406 |
| 8.0 mph, 7.5 min/mile | 11.8 | 436 |
| 9.0 mph, 6.5 min/mile | 12.8 | 472 |
| 10.0 mph, 6 min/mile | 14.5 | 535 |
Scale these numbers for your own weight. Heavier runners burn more at the same pace, lighter runners burn less.
Why running burns more than walking at the same distance
Running and walking cover the same ground differently. Walking keeps one foot on the surface at all times, while running has an airborne phase between strides, which costs more energy per stride and drives up the MET value at any given speed. That is why a 5 mph run and a 5 mph walk are not the same workout. Very few people can sustain a 5 mph walking pace at all, and even so it burns far less than a 5 mph jog because the running gait itself is less efficient and more metabolically expensive.
The MET values in this calculator come from steady, level-ground outdoor running. Treadmill running at 0 percent incline tends to burn slightly less than outdoor running at the same speed, because wind resistance and the belt doing some of the work both reduce the effort. Many runners set a 1 to 2 percent treadmill incline to approximate outdoor conditions more closely.
Because the formula scales with body weight, the same pace burns different totals for different people. A 200 lb runner and a 130 lb runner both running 6 mph for 30 minutes are doing the same distance and the same relative effort, but the heavier runner burns noticeably more calories because moving more mass over that distance takes more work.
Common mistakes
- Using treadmill incline-0 pace to estimate outdoor hill running, which burns more due to the added climbing effort.
- Assuming steady-state MET applies to interval sprints, which burn calories at a much higher and more variable rate than a constant pace.
- Double counting by also adding a fitness tracker's separate estimate on top of this one, when the two numbers already try to estimate the same burn.
- Ignoring wind, sand, or trail terrain, all of which raise the true energy cost above the flat-road MET value.
- Confusing this tool with a pace calculator. This calculator estimates energy burned, not finish time or mile splits.
Embed this calculator on your site
Drop this single line where you want the calculator to appear. It is responsive, mobile-friendly, resizes automatically, and is free to use with attribution.
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