Running and Health

• Published in: Integrative medicine alert 2018-05, Vol.21 (5)
• Main Author: Feldman, Ellen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiovascular disease; Exercise; Health risk assessment; Life expectancy; Marathons; Mortality; Olympic games; Pheidippides; Physical fitness; Public health; Running; Socioeconomic factors; Studies
• ISSN: 2325-2812; 2325-2820

SUMMARY POINTS * Runners have a 25-40% reduced risk of premature death (even after controlling for multiple variables) and significantly lower risks of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.* On average, runners live three years longer than non-runners.* The effect of running on cardiorespiratory fitness may be key to understanding the health benefits of running.* It remains unclear if there is a “running threshold” over which frequency adversely affects health, but the health benefits appear to flatten at over 4.5 hours or 30 miles weekly. According to legend, Pheidippides ran 25 miles from Marathon to Athens carrying news of victory in battle but died just after his proclamation, making him perhaps one of the most famous cases of sudden death associated with running.2 Today, we know that physical activity is linked with a number of significant health benefits, including a reduction in all-cause mortality. Other Physical Activity Risk of all-cause mortality Inactive non-runners Reference group Active non-runners 12% lower risk Solely runners (inactive in other physical activities) 30% lower risk Active runners (participating in other physical activities) 43% lower risk Data collected from more than 44,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up study were consistent with these results with only running, brisk walking, and tennis, revealing an inverse association with cardiovascular disease risk. When discussing running, in particular, it is important to note that most of the studies were observational and the quantity of running was based on self-reporting. [...]associations may be drawn, but we are not yet able to prove causation.