Introduction

This free calculator allows you accurately predict calorie and fat burn for a variety of distances, durations and elevations. It also estimates weight loss based on the running session.

Understanding the energy requirements of running, and being able to calculate how many calories you burn during different types of run, can be extremely useful for a range of reasons.

Weight loss

Running can form an important part of a weight loss plan.

Because running is a simple way to increase activity levels, many people will take up jogging or recreational running in the first place as a way of losing weight. Most of these people eventually fall in love with running and stick with it.

Knowing exactly how running contributes to the goal of weight loss can help such runners adjust their food intake or how often they run so that they burn more calories and accomplish a desired calorie deficit. These runners may like to think of this tool as a calorie deficit calculator.

And understanding daily calorie requirements and daily energy expenditure is especially useful in helping to avoid overcompensating or undercompensating for exercise, which is particularly common with new runners.

If you're trying to lose weight then be sure to avoid large calorie deficits, otherwise a reduction in performance (and potentially health) can occur. Gradual weight loss is best, since this allows for finer analysis and control, greater loss of fat, and less loss of muscle mass.

Running performance

In contrast to those who want to run to lose weight, many runners want to lose weight in order to run faster.

Everybody will have an ideal body weight for running or racing, and as you approach this weight more fine tuning is required so that you don't overdo it and stay on track.

It's important for such runners to be able to calculate calorie deficit so that they can lose weight effectively and safely.

Weight gain

If you're hoping to gain weight, then keeping tabs on extra energy requirements is crucial. Especially during periods of high mileage, it can be hard for some people to make up energy deficits. Planning ahead by being able to calculate how different durations and types of run contribute to calorie burn can make this task much easier.

Maintain weight

Runners who are happy with their body weight but have changing requirements, perhaps because they're increasing or decreasing training volume, can benefit from understanding how a change in the amount of running they do affects their calorie requirements and can adjust food intake accordingly.

Refuelling

In order to promote recovery it's important to refuel properly, especially after harder or longer sessions. It's ideal for some of this refuelling to take place as soon as possible after the run. This is where recovery drinks can be useful. The remaining energy deficit can be made up throughout the rest of the day, either before or after the run.

Pre-fuelling

Energy intake can be increased prior to a run, especially leading up to harder or longer sessions, in order to ensure that enough fuel is available. However, assuming you're not fasted, you should generally have enough energy available to complete most workouts without increasing food intake.

Beware of eating too much immediately before a run. It's unlikely to cause any major problems, but can provide for an uncomfortable experience.

Fuelling on the run

Taking on calories during a run usually involves the use of energy gels. Being more aware of the demands of your training runs means you're better able to plan how many gels to carry and how often to take them.

Running intensity and calorie burn

You'll note that faster (and hence more-intense) running speeds result in greater calorie burn. A simplistic conclusion to draw from this is that in order to maximize weight loss it's better to run faster. However, remember that calorie burn also increases with the duration of the run, and it's possible to run for longer at slower speeds. Additionally, recovery from slower-paced runs tends to be quicker, which means a greater overall volume of training can be achieved.

The best approach is probably the same as that used for running performance: to include a mix of paces and intensities in your overall training regime.

Hill running and energy expenditure

Running uphill at a fixed pace requires more energy, and therefore results in greater calorie burn, than running on the flat. Similarly, running downhill at a fixed pace requires less energy, and therefore results in less calorie burn, than running on the flat. The reduction in calorie burn for downhill running is about half of the increase in calorie burn for uphill running.

Proper hill running technique can mitigate this to some degree, but never completely.

Hills have less of an impact on calorie burn than you might expect. However, if you know the elevation gain for your run (or the grade or angle of ascent) you can include this in the calculation.

METs

This calculator is based on the concept of METs. MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. METs are used to calculate how much energy is expended for a particular task, taking a person's weight and the duration of the activity into account. A single MET is roughly the amount of energy required to sit down and do nothing. METs for other activities are determined with reference to this baseline. For example, running at 7 miles/11.3 kilometers per hour (about 8:34 mins/mile or 5:20 mins/kilometre) requires approximately 11 times more energy than sitting still and doing nothing. So, this running speed is equivalent to 11 METs.

METs and Calories (kcal)

Conversion from METs to Calories (kcal) is achieved with the following formula:

Calories/kcal = activity (METs) x weight (kilograms) x duration (hours)

So, the number of Calories/kcal required for a 6 MET activity performed for 1 hour 30 minutes by a person weighing 70 kilograms is:

6 x 70 x 1.5 = 630 kcal

Running METs

For runners under 60, in order to determine the METs for running at various paces/speeds, we use the values provided by the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities List for Running

In the case where METs are not available for a specific pace/speed, we use linear interpolation to derive a suitable MET value.

Older adults and running

For adults over 60, we apply an adjustment based on values in the 2024 Older Adult Compendium. This 2024 addition to the compendia accounts for the lower resting metabolism and increased energy requirements, and therefore calorie burn, in older adults. This is caused by factors such as a drop in lean body mass, a less efficient metabolism, and loss of health in general.

The older adult compendium only includes two entries for running, and these result in a 43–48% increase in MET values for the older adults. Thus, to determine calorie requirements for those over 60 we apply a simple multiplicative factor of 1.45 to the younger adult METs.

Hill running and Calories

Our calculator allows you to estimate the effect of hills on calorie burn.

Research by D. B. Dill in 1965 showed that the cost associated with the vertical component of running uphill (i.e. the elevation gain), is 1.31 millilitres of oxygen for every metre climbed per kilogram of weight.

This value should be approximately the same for most slopes. Just be aware that very steep hills require quite different biomechanics, and the energy requirements also become quite different.

If we multiply this value of 1.31 by the runner's weight and the overall elevation gain, we get the overall oxygen cost associated with the vertical component of a run:

Oxygen requirements in millilitres = elevation gain × weight in kilograms × 1.31

For example, if your run included an elevation gain of 600 feet/183 metres, and you weigh 170 lbs/77 kg, then oxygen requirements for the vertical component of your run (regardless of the run distance), will be:

183 × 77 × 1.31 ≈ 18,459 ml

So, that's about 18.5 litres of oxygen consumed.

For every litre of oxygen consumed, about 5 kilocalories are burned.

So, our calculation now becomes:

Energy requirement in kilocalories = elevation gain × weight in kilograms × 1.31 ÷ 1,000 × 5

(note that we divide by 1,000 to give oxygen in litres rather than millilitres)

For our example, that gives us:

183 × 77 × 1.31 ÷ 1,000 × 5 ≈ 92.3 kcal

But, we also need to consider the reduced cost of running downhill.

Research by Minetti et al. measured the energy cost of running across slopes ranging from steep uphill (+45%) to steep downhill (-45%), expressed as the total metabolic cost per metre travelled per kilogram of body mass.

Their results show that the energy cost of running rises steadily on uphills due to the extra gravitational work, and falls on gentle downhills (with a minimum around -10% slope) before increasing again on steeper descents due to the braking effect of eccentric muscle contractions.

By comparing the energy cost at a given slope to the cost on level ground, we can estimate calories saved on downhill sections of a run. This allows us to apply a realistic reduction for downhills, rather than assuming a fixed percentage, and to better reflect the actual metabolic demands of different gradients.

The Minetti equation says:

Energy cost per meter (J·kg-1·m-1) = 155.4s5 − 30.4s4 − 43.3s3 + 46.3s2 + 19.5s + 3.6

where s is slope (elevation gain ÷ distance)

To simplify things, we take the elevation gain (or calculate from grade or angle), assume that half the run was spent running uphill and half spent running downhill, and then calculate the downhill slope by dividing the elevation gain by half the time of the run.

Going back to our 170 lbs/77 kg runner who climbed (and descended) 600 feet/183 metres. Assume they covered 5k in 30 minutes.

Slope = -183 ÷ 2500 = -0.0732

Plugging in this value to the Minetti equation gives us:

155.4 × (-0.0732)5 − 30.4 × (-0.0732)4 − 43.3 × (-0.0732)3 + 46.3 × (-0.0732)2 + 19.5 × (-0.0732) + 3.6 = 2.436 J·kg-1·m-1

Then we multiply this Minetti cost by the runner's weight (in kilos) and the elevation drop:

2.436 × 77 × 2500 ≈ 469 kJ ≈ 112.1 kcal

That is the overall energy cost of running 2.5k while descending 600 feet/183 meters.

To isolate the downhill energy component only, we can use Minetti's equation with a slope of zero, to find out the horizontal component, and subtract that. This gives us:

165.8 - 112.1 ≈ 53.7 kcal

For a more intuitive context, I would describe 600 feet/183 metres of elevation over a 5k run as quite hilly. Over a 10 mile run I'd describe it as "moderately hilly".

The calorie figures shown in our example are probably less than they feel they should be. But consider that when you're running on the flat you're already working quite hard; adding an uphill component is perceived as being much harder, but in terms of actual work output and energy requirements it won't be that much different. Also bear in mind that uphill running slows us down, so part of the added energy requirement is accounted for by the fact that you will be running for longer on a hillier course. In fact, if you run at exactly the same intensity uphill, downhill, and on the flat, then the extra calorie burn will effectively be accounted for by the extra time spent running. However, most runners do work harder uphill and less hard downhill, and don't run as efficiently as they do on the flat, so it seems reasonable to include this modification.

Running with a backpack

Extra weight when running will increase the number of calories burned. If you include a backpack weight we simply add this to your body weight, and then the total weight is taken into consideration in the calorie calculation.

Treadmill running vs. outdoor running

Running on a treadmill is typically less demanding than running outside. If you're a treadmill user then we recommend using our specialized treadmill calorie calculator.

3,500 Calories is approximately equal to one pound of fat:

Weight loss (lbs) = Calories ÷ 3,500

In metric values:

Weight loss (kg) = kilojoules ÷ 32,217

For example, if a person who weighs 185 pounds runs 8 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes they will burn roughly 1,313 kcal / 5,494 kJ. This means they will lose roughly:

1,313 ÷ 3,500 ≈ 0.38 lbs

or in metric:

5,494 ÷ 32,217 ≈ 0.17 kg

These amounts seem small at first glance, but when you consider the cumulative effect of many runs over time, it's clear that running can contribute significantly to weight loss.

If you're interested in how much faster you could run by losing excess weight then check out our weight vs. pace calculator.

Weight

Enter your weight in pounds, kilograms, or stones and pounds. Greater weight will increase energy requirements and calorie burn.

Distance

Specify how far you ran in either miles, kilometers, or meters. Running further, all other things being equal, means a greater calorie burn.

Duration/Pace

Enter either your run duration or your running pace/speed in minutes per mile, minutes per kilometer, miles per hour, or kilometers per hour. Speedier and longer runs use up more energy.

Elevation

If your run is hilly then you can add the elevation gain in either feet or meters. You can also specify the grade or angle of the climb. Running uphill requires more energy (and downhill less).

Hill options

If the run is only uphill then check the "Uphill only" checkbox. If this remains unchecked then it's assumed that the run includes equal ups and downs.

Backpack weight

Enter your backpack weight in pounds or kilograms. The backpack's weight will contribute to overall load and make the run more demanding.

Age

If appropriate, check the "Over 60" checkbox. Because of a lower resting metabolism, older adults will burn more calories for similar runs.

Types of Runs

Useful tools

Weight vs. pace calculator. Discover how much faster you could run by losing weight.

BMI Calculator. Determine your healthy range.

Other calorie calculators

Treadmill calorie calculator. Including curved treadmills.

Calorie calculator for walkers. Including Nordic walking.

Calorie calculator for hikers. A specialized calculator for the peculiarities of hiking.

Calorie calculator for cyclists. An outdoor cycling calculator with climb options.

Stationary bike calorie calculator. A specialized calculator for indoor bikes, based on riding intensity and power.

Calorie calculator for swimmers. With popular strokes and water activities.

Calorie calculator for rowers. A calculator for ergometers based on rowing intensity, power output, or split time.

Further reading

2024 Compendium of Physical Activities

2024 Compendium of Physical Activities Reference List for running activities

2024 Compendium of Physical Activities for Older Adults

Energy costs of human activities in adults aged 60 and older

2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: A third update of the energy costs of human activities

A brief history of the Compendium of Physical Activities