Running Calorie Calculator — Calories Burned Running
See how many calories you burn on a run: enter your body weight, distance and average speed and get gross caloric expenditure, net calories and estimated fat burned, based on established MET values.
Units
kg
km
km/h
Total energy expenditure including resting metabolic rate
- 1
Duration
5 ÷ 10 = 0.5 hDistance divided by speed gives run time in hours. - 2
MET for speed
9.8Speed band: 9.6–11.2 km/h (6 mph) - 3
Calories burned (gross)
9.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 343
How does this calculator work?
Calories burned running = MET × weight (kg) × duration (hours), where MET rises from ~6 at jogging pace to ~14.5 at sprint speed. A 70 kg runner covering 5 km at 10 km/h (MET ≈ 9.8) burns about 343 kcal gross. The rule of thumb 1 kcal/kg/km is a useful quick estimate for flat terrain at moderate pace.
Formula
How this is calculated
Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) values quantify how much harder an activity is than sitting quietly at rest (1 MET ≈ 3.5 mL O₂/kg/min). Running METs rise with speed: jogging below 8 km/h carries a MET of roughly 6, while sprinting above 16 km/h climbs to 14.5. The values used here come from the widely cited Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011). Gross caloric expenditure is MET × weight (kg) × duration (hours); this includes the resting metabolic rate that would have been burning even if you were sitting. Net calories (MET − 1) × weight × hours strip out that baseline to give a truer picture of the extra energy used by running.
Fat oxidation during steady aerobic running at moderate intensity contributes roughly 85% of net energy; each gram of fat yields about 9 kcal, so dividing 85% of net calories by 9 gives an approximate fat-burned figure. In practice the fat-to-carbohydrate ratio shifts with intensity, duration, training status and diet, so treat it as an estimate.
This calculator does not adjust for terrain, wind, temperature or running economy. Uphill running increases caloric cost significantly; downhill running somewhat decreases it. Individual metabolic rates also vary by up to ±20% around population-average MET values.
Frequently asked questions
A rough rule for flat running is about 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per kilometre, so a 70 kg person burns roughly 70 kcal per km. This calculator refines that using speed-based MET values; faster paces burn slightly more per km because of higher metabolic cost.
Gross calories include the resting metabolic rate you burn anyway; net calories are the additional energy running costs above rest. Fitness trackers typically report gross figures. For weight-loss calculations, net calories are the more useful number.
Slightly — the net caloric cost per km is nearly constant regardless of pace for a given body weight, which is why the "1 kcal per kg per km" rule works reasonably well. Faster running has a higher MET but takes less time, so total calories per km are similar; a very fast sprint or very slow jog shifts the ratio only modestly.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Running Calorie Calculator — Calories Burned Running [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/running-calorie-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Running Calorie Calculator — Calories Burned Running." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/running-calorie-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Running Calorie Calculator — Calories Burned Running," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/running-calorie-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_running_calorie_calculator, title = {Running Calorie Calculator — Calories Burned Running}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/running-calorie-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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