Running burns roughly 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per kilometre — about 725 kcal for a 70 kg (154 lb) runner over 10 km. Enter your weight and distance below for your number, and add your pace for a sharper MET-based estimate with net calories and time on feet.
Calories calculator
Your run
With a pace we use the MET model for a sharper estimate — and show your time on feet.
How this is calculated
Without a pace: calories ≈ 1.036 × weight (kg) × distance (km) — the cost of covering a kilometre on foot is nearly constant across speeds. With a pace: calories = MET × weight (kg) × hours, using MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities. Hills, wind, and running economy shift the true number by roughly ±10%.
Your result
Calories burned
Enter your weight to estimate calories burned
That burn in fuel
Gross calories include what you'd have burned at rest anyway — add a pace to see the net figure that matters for weight change.
Estimated total (gross) calories for common race distances, using the distance rule of thumb. Heavier runners burn more over the same distance because every stride moves more mass.
| Distance | 60 kg / 132 lb | 70 kg / 154 lb | 80 kg / 176 lb | 90 kg / 198 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | 310 kcal | 365 kcal | 415 kcal | 465 kcal |
| 10K | 620 kcal | 725 kcal | 830 kcal | 930 kcal |
| Half marathon | 1,310 kcal | 1,530 kcal | 1,750 kcal | 1,965 kcal |
| Marathon | 2,625 kcal | 3,060 kcal | 3,495 kcal | 3,935 kcal |
Without pace — distance rule
kcal ≈ 1.036 × weight (kg) × distance (km)
Physiology research keeps finding the same thing: the energy cost of covering a kilometre on foot barely changes with speed. Run it fast and you burn more per minute for fewer minutes; run it slow and the reverse. That makes weight × distance a reliable population-level estimate when your pace is unknown.
With pace — MET model
kcal = MET × weight (kg) × hours
A MET is a multiple of your resting metabolism — running at 10 km/h costs about 10 METs, or ten times sitting still. We interpolate MET values between the published speed points of the Compendium of Physical Activities, so your exact pace gets its exact multiplier. This also unlocks net calories: the burn above what rest would have cost you anyway.
Both models assume steady running on flat ground. Hills, headwind, soft surfaces, and your individual running economy can shift the true figure by around ±10% — the same uncertainty your GPS watch quietly carries.
A useful rule of thumb is about 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per kilometre (roughly 100 kcal per mile for a 70 kg / 154 lb runner). So a 70 kg runner burns around 725 kcal over 10 km and about 3,050 kcal over a marathon. Body weight and distance are by far the biggest factors — pace matters much less than most runners expect.
Per minute, yes — per kilometre, only slightly. Running at 5:00/km burns more calories per hour than 7:00/km, but you also finish the distance sooner, so the total for the run comes out close. What faster running does change is intensity: a harder run raises post-exercise oxygen consumption (the afterburn), which adds a modest 6–15% on top of the run itself.
Gross calories are everything your body burned during the run, including the resting metabolism you'd have spent sitting on the couch. Net calories are only the extra cost of the run. For weight management, net is the honest number — a 60-minute run showing 700 kcal gross is roughly 630 kcal net for a 70 kg runner. This calculator shows both when you enter a pace.
For steady running on flat ground, the MET-based estimate typically lands within about 10% of laboratory measurements. Hills, headwind, soft surfaces like sand or trail, heat, and your individual running economy all shift the true number. GPS watches face the same limits — treat any calorie figure as a solid estimate, not a measurement.
Almost. A treadmill removes wind resistance, which makes it roughly 2–5% cheaper at easy paces and up to 10% cheaper at fast paces. Setting the incline to 1% is the standard way to match outdoor effort. If you train on the treadmill, our treadmill pace converter translates the settings.
One kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal (one pound is about 3,500 kcal). At around 70 kcal per km for a 70 kg runner, that's on the order of 110 km of running per kilogram — which is why runners lose weight through consistent weekly volume plus diet, not single big runs. A sustainable target is a 300–500 kcal daily deficit combining both.
For easy runs under an hour, normal meals cover it. For long runs beyond 90 minutes, fuelling during the run matters for performance: aim for 30–60 g of carbohydrate per hour (one energy gel is roughly 25 g and 100 kcal). After hard sessions, a meal with carbohydrate and 20–30 g of protein within a couple of hours supports recovery. Chronically running large deficits hurts training quality before it helps weight loss.