Dave PomijeOn average, running burns about 100 calories per mile or 60–80 calories per kilometer, depending on body weight and intensity.
- Run a mile: Burns about 100 calories.
- Run a 5K: 300-400 calories burned
- Walk a 5K: 140-200 calories burned
- Run a 10K: 600-700 calories burned
- Walk a 10K: 250-350 calories burned
- Run a half marathon: 1,400-1,600 calories burned
- Walk a half marathon: 650-900 calories burned
- Run a 25K (15.5 miles) : 1,800-2,100 calories burned
- Walk a 25K (15.5 miles): 1,000 – 1,200 calories burned
- Run a marathon: 2,800-3,200 calories burned
- Walk a marathon: 1,600-2,800 calories burned
Also try our Advanced Calories Burned Running, Jogging or Treadmill Calculator.
Related: How Long Will It Take You To Finish A Race? Try Our Running Pace Calculator
Food Equivalents: What Your Run Can Offset
Here’s a fun way to think about running calories: what might that effort roughly equal in everyday food? These examples are estimates, but they help make calorie numbers easier to understand for beginner runners.
| Run | Calories Burned | Rough Food Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 km run | 60–80 | 1 banana, or a small apple with a teaspoon of peanut butter |
| 2 km run | 120–160 | 1 granola bar and a small yogurt, or a slice of toast with avocado |
| 3 km run | 180–240 | 1 bagel thin with cream cheese, or a small smoothie |
| 5 km run (5K) | 300–400 | 2 slices of pizza, a burger, or a large latte with milk |
| 7 km run | 420–560 | A burrito bowl, or a sandwich with chips and a drink |
| 10 km run (10K) | 600–800 | A full restaurant-style meal (entrée + side), or pasta with sauce and bread |
| 30-minute run | 250–500 | A protein shake with a banana, or eggs and toast with fruit |
| 1-hour run | 500–900 | A full meal plus a snack, like chicken, rice, vegetables, and yogurt |
| Half marathon (21.1 km) | 1,200–1,800 | Multiple meals’ worth of energy, such as breakfast, lunch, and snacks combined |
| Marathon (42.2 km) | 2,400–3,500+ | An entire day’s worth of food (or more), depending on body size and pace |
A person weighing 155 lbs burns approximately 596 calories per hour while running at a 10-minute per mile pace (6 mph). Here’s a table showing the approximate number of calories a person in this example would burn in a mile, 5K, 10K all the way up to a full marathon of 26.2 miles.
Your gender, age, height, weight, speed and other factors all affect how many calories you burn when you exercise.
For example, someone who weighs 180 pounds and runs a 10 minute mile will burn about 140 calories. While someone weighing 150 pounds at the same pace will burn about 117 calories.
Related: BMI Calculator for Runners
Running Compared to Other Forms of Exercise
You may be wondering how running stacks up to other forms of exercise in terms of calories burned. The chart below from The American Council on Exercise, shows that compared to every other form of exercise, a good run is going to burn more calories per minute than just about anything else.
| Activity Calories/min. | 120 lb. | 140 lb. | 160 lb. | 180 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | 7.5 | 8.8 | 10 | 11.3 |
| Bowling | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Cycling (10 MPH) | 5.5 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 8.2 |
| Dancing (aerobic) | 7.4 | 8.6 | 9.8 | 11.1 |
| Dancing (social) | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
| Gardening | 5 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 7.5 |
| Golf (pull//carry clubs) | 4.6 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 7 |
| Golf (power cart) | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| Hiking | 4.5 | 5.2 | 6 | 6.7 |
| Jogging | 9.3 | 10.8 | 12.4 | 13.9 |
| Running | 11.4 | 13.2 | 15.1 | 17 |
| Sitting | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 |
| Skating (ice and other) | 5.9 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 8.8 |
| Skilling (cross country) | 7.5 | 8.8 | 10 | 11.3 |
| Skiing (water and downhill) | 5.7 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 8.5 |
| Swimming (moderate pace) | 7.8 | 9 | 10.3 | 11.6 |
| Tennis | 6 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 8.9 |
| Walking | 6.5 | 7.6 | 8.7 | 9.7 |
| Weight Training | 6.6 | 7.6 | 8.7 | 9.8 |
