Last verified against the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities.
Example: 3 miles in 30 minutes, 154 lb
The 2024 Compendium rates running at 6.0 to 6.3 mph at 9.3 MET, 9.3 times the energy of sitting quietly, so this total includes what your body burns at rest. Enter your own run above to replace this example.
| Calories burned | Amount |
|---|---|
| Per minute | 11.4 |
| Per mile | 114 |
| Per kilometer | 71 |
| 2024 Compendium row | MET |
|---|---|
| Code 12050Running, 6-6.3 mph (10 min/mile) | 9.3 |
kcal = MET x 3.5 x kg / 200 x minutes, with the MET of code 12050 in the 2024 Adult Compendium.
Calories burned running for 30 minutes, by weight and speed
Each row is one running speed from the 2024 Compendium, with its pace and MET, and each column is a body weight, from 125 lb (57 kg) to 250 lb (113 kg). The figures are calories for 30 minutes at that speed.
| Speed | 125 lb | 150 lb | 175 lb | 200 lb | 225 lb | 250 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6 to 3.7 mph23:05 to 16:13 per mile, 3.3 MET | 98 | 118 | 138 | 157 | 177 | 196 |
| 4.0 to 4.2 mph15:00 to 14:17 per mile, 6.5 MET | 193 | 232 | 271 | 310 | 348 | 387 |
| 4.3 to 4.8 mph13:57 to 12:30 per mile, 7.8 MET | 232 | 279 | 325 | 371 | 418 | 464 |
| 5.0 to 5.2 mph12:00 to 11:32 per mile, 8.5 MET | 253 | 304 | 354 | 405 | 455 | 506 |
| 5.5 to 5.8 mph10:55 to 10:21 per mile, 9.0 MET | 268 | 321 | 375 | 429 | 482 | 536 |
| 6.0 to 6.3 mph10:00 to 9:31 per mile, 9.3 MET | 277 | 332 | 388 | 443 | 498 | 554 |
| 6.7 mph8:57 per mile, 10.5 MET | 313 | 375 | 438 | 500 | 563 | 625 |
| 7.0 mph8:34 per mile, 11.0 MET | 327 | 393 | 458 | 524 | 589 | 655 |
| 7.5 mph8:00 per mile, 11.8 MET | 351 | 422 | 492 | 562 | 632 | 703 |
| 8.0 mph7:30 per mile, 12.0 MET | 357 | 429 | 500 | 572 | 643 | 714 |
| 8.6 mph6:59 per mile, 12.5 MET | 372 | 447 | 521 | 595 | 670 | 744 |
| 9.0 mph6:40 per mile, 13.0 MET | 387 | 464 | 542 | 619 | 697 | 774 |
| 9.3 to 9.6 mph6:27 to 6:15 per mile, 14.8 MET | 441 | 529 | 617 | 705 | 793 | 881 |
| 10.0 mph6:00 per mile, 14.8 MET | 441 | 529 | 617 | 705 | 793 | 881 |
| 11.0 mph5:27 per mile, 16.8 MET | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | 1,000 |
| 12.0 mph5:00 per mile, 18.5 MET | 551 | 661 | 771 | 881 | 991 | 1,101 |
| 13.0 mph4:37 per mile, 19.8 MET | 589 | 707 | 825 | 943 | 1,061 | 1,179 |
| 14.0 mph4:17 per mile, 23.0 MET | 685 | 822 | 958 | 1,095 | 1,232 | 1,369 |
How the running calorie calculator works
The calculator turns your distance and time, or your pace, into a speed. It then finds that speed in the running table of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, a research list of the energy cost of adult activities. Each row gives a MET: the energy cost of running at that speed as a multiple of sitting quietly. The Compendium's running rows go from 3.3 MET (2.6 to 3.7 mph) to 23.0 MET (14.0 mph).
Calories come from the Compendium's own conversion, with your weight in kilograms: kcal = MET x 3.5 x kg / 200 x minutes.
The Compendium lists running at set speeds, with gaps between some of them. Most speeds land inside a Compendium row. When yours falls in a gap between two rows, the calculator uses the nearer row, and the slower one if it sits exactly halfway. Below the slowest row or above the fastest, it uses that end row. The result tells you when this happened. The Compendium asks its users not to change its MET values or combine rows, so the calculator never averages two of them.
A walk and a run at the same speed can sit in different rows, so a walk belongs in the walking calorie calculator.
What your running calorie number means
It is a gross figure. One MET is the energy you use sitting quietly, so the total includes the calories your body would have burned at rest over the same minutes.
Weight and time scale it in proportion: twice the weight or twice the minutes gives twice the calories. Speed works through the MET, and the faster rows carry higher values. Per mile, speed matters much less, because a faster mile takes fewer minutes.
The calculation uses only your weight, your time and the MET for your speed. It cannot allow for hills, heat, wind or how fit you are, and the 2024 Adult Compendium covers adults aged 19 to 59.
Running calories in the 2024 Compendium
The 2024 edition of the Compendium rates a 6.0 mph run at 9.3 MET, down from 9.8 in the 2011 edition, so the same run now counts fewer calories. Calculators built on the 2011 Compendium, including the one this page used to carry, give different numbers for the same run.
Running calorie questions
How many calories does running a mile burn?
About 96 calories if you weigh 130 lb and 148 if you weigh 200 lb, running a 10:00 mile (9.3 MET in the 2024 Compendium). A heavier runner burns more over the same mile.
Does running faster burn more calories per mile?
Hardly. For a 154 lb runner, a mile at 10:00 burns about 114 calories, at 7:30 about 110 and at 6:00 about 109 (9.3, 12.0 and 14.8 MET in the 2024 Compendium). Faster running burns more per minute, but each mile takes fewer minutes.
Do I burn more calories running or walking a mile?
Running. For a 154 lb person, a mile run at 10:00 per mile burns about 114 calories, and a mile walked at 20:00 per mile about 93 (9.3 and 3.8 MET in the 2024 Compendium).
Will running help me lose weight?
This calculator counts the calories a run burns. To set a weight loss target, use the calorie deficit calculator.
Sources
- Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al. 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activitiesJournal of Sport and Health Science 2024;13(1):6-12. How the 2024 MET values were set. Read 4 Oct 2026.
- 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: Running (12)pacompendium.com. The MET for each running speed. Read 4 Oct 2026.
- 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: Walking (17)pacompendium.com. The MET for each walking speed on level, firm ground. Read 4 Oct 2026.
- Compendium of Physical Activities: Unit Conversionspacompendium.com. The formula the calculator uses: kcal = MET x 3.5 x kg / 200 x minutes. Read 5 Oct 2026.
- Ainsworth BE, et al. 2011 Compendium of Physical ActivitiesMedicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2011;43(8):1575-1581, supplemental activity list. The 2011 values in the edition note. Read 4 Oct 2026.
- NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.8NIST, 2008 edition. The exact mile and pound conversions. Read 4 Oct 2026.
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