How Many Calories Do You Burn Running One Mile?

I am curious to know how many calories are burned running a mile?  Laura K.

Dear Laura,

There are a few factors to mention when answering this question.  It's not the same for everyone:

First, the more someone weighs (especially if it's more muscle tissue than fat comprising their weight) the more they burn with any kind of movement compared to someone who is smaller.  For instance, a 200 pound man who runs a mile will burn more calories than a 110 pound woman.  That's why when you're on the gym equipment they have you enter your weight, so the machine can more accurately compute the calories you are burning.

Seemingly, it would also depend on how fast you are running the mile.  It would make sense that someone running a 8 minute mile would burn more than someone jogging a 12 minute mile.  Not so!  Remember that after the 8 minute mile, the faster person stops--the slower person continues to exercise 50% longer.

Realistically I use an average of 100 calories burned per mile, whether a person is running, jogging, or walking.  A very slow person just starting out may take 25 minutes to walk a mile.  They are burning the same 100 calories--it's just taking longer.

If you like to use a pedometer, the average steps per mile is 2000.  This means you can also calculate 100 calories burned per 2000 steps if you don't have the access to measuring the actual length of your walk.

Happy trails :)