If you want to lose weight, eating nutritiously and following a regular exercise program are the healthiest routes to lasting success. If you're a runner, you can burn more calories and fat by doing long runs of an hour or longer in duration. If you run for two hours, you may lose weight, depending on several factors, including your diet, hydration and the amount of calories you burn on your run.
The formula for weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. It takes about 3,500 calories to burn 1 pound of body weight. Running burns more calories than any other aerobic activity, making it ideal for weight loss. During runs, your body burns mainly carbohydrate calories for energy, but after an hour of running, your body burns fat for fuel, which is helpful if you're trying to lose weight. One two-hour run will not make you lose much weight, however — you will not even burn the 3,500 calories needed to shed 1 pound. Several two-hour runs can help you lose weight over a period of weeks, however.
Calories
The exact amount of calories you burn on a two-hour run depends on your weight and running speed. The more you weigh and the faster you run, the more calories you will burn. A 160-pound person who runs for two hours at a pace of 5 mph — or 12-minute miles — for instance, burns about 1,168 calories in two hours, according to MayoClinic.com. The same person burns about 1,972 calories while running for two hours at 8 mph — a 7 1/2-minute mile pace. A 200-pound person, on the other hand, burns about 1,456 calories running for two hours at 5 mph and 2,458 calories running at 8 mph. So the 160-pound person will burn close to 1/2 pound in body weight on the run while the 200-pound person will burn more — almost a pound at faster speeds.
Water
Your body loses water during strenuous exercise, and a two-hour run will most likely make you lose water weight. Runners sweat at different rates, with some runners losing more fluids than others during long runs. One pint of water loss yields roughly 1 pound of body weight. It is important to stay hydrated on your two-hour run by drinking water throughout your run, every one to three miles. Because water weight fluctuates, you should gain the water weight you lost back by drinking plenty of water after your run to rehydrate your body. You will know when you're rehydrated when your urine is very light in color.
Diet
Your weight loss from running two hours may be lessened or increased by your diet. If you gorge yourself after your long run, you will probably balance out any weight loss you achieved during your run. If you eat fewer total calories than you burned during the day of your run, you will lose weight. Do not try to cut your calories too drastically, however, because your body needs nutrients to repair itself and refuel after a long run. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends losing no more than 1 to 2 pounds per week for a healthy, sustainable rate of weight loss.
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