Whether you want to lose weight or stay in shape, running can help you meet your calorie-burning goals more quickly than most activities. Running eight laps on a standard track is equal to two miles. The exact amount of calories you burn running eight laps depends on your weight and running pace.
Running and Calories
The amount of calories you burn running depends on your individual metabolism, body size and running pace. In general, the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn running. For example, a 160-lb. person burns about 986 calories during one hour of running at a speed of 8 mph -- or 7:30-minute mile pace, according to the Mayo Clinic. A 200-lb. person burns about 1,229 calories, and if you're 240 lbs. you'll burn 1,472 calories during the same running workout.
Pace and Duration
The amount of calories you burn running eight laps also depends on your running pace and duration. Pace is the speed at which you run and duration is how long you spend running. The faster you run, the more calories you burn. Likewise, the longer the duration of your run, the more calories you will burn. However, increasing your speed will shorten the duration of your run if you do not add distance to the run. If you run two miles quickly, you will burn more calories because of your speed but your run will not last as long, cutting down on the total amount of calories you burn.
Running Two Miles
You can calculate how many calories you burn running eight laps by using a calories burned calculator. A 150-lb. person that runs eight laps at a speed of 6 mph -- or 10-minute mile pace -- burns about 229 calories, according to "Fitness" magazine's calories burned calculator. The same person burns 224 calories by running at a faster speed, at 8 mph -- or 7:30-minute mile pace. Even though the runner's speed increased, the amount of calories she burned did not increase because she completed her run in a shorter amount of time.
Calorie Considerations
If you are trying to lose weight, keep in mind that you will need to burn more calories than you consume each day. It takes about 3,500 calories to equal 1 lb. of body weight, so if you burn 500 more calories than you consume each day for one week, you will lose roughly 1 lb. If you want to increase the amount of calories you burn running, you will need to increase the distance of your run to more than eight laps. Running twice as far, for instance, will burn twice as many calories.
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