Is Running Healthy?

Running takes a bad rap as a sport for long term health so I'm quick to read things that dispel such stuff. I'm just a 51 year old kid who has run just about every day for 30 years and I'm kicking butt! So there.

I was sent an article from the February 2001 issue of Discovery Magazine reporting on a study by physicist and biomechanist Benno Nigg. The study shows the impact and motions from life long running are not nearly as damaging as once thought. From the following information taken from the article (taken out of context), I was ready to write an article about what a bad wrap running has taken in the press.

"He and others doing similar studies found no relation between the magnitude of impact forces and the injury rate in runners. Fast runners for example, land with two to three times the force of slower runners, yet in Niggs studies they were injured no more frequently.

Running on hard surfaces doesnt result in more injuries than running on soft surfaces. And if the impact from running was stressful to joints, degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis would presumably be more common in runners than in non-runners. They arent."

I realized my article would be an article about an article about a study. I could have easily cut away all information that didnt fit the tone of my column and came up with a somewhat factual, somewhat informative piece. My article might have gone on to be quoted from by others in the running community and might once again appear as part of another running article. Would some of it be valid and useful information? Maybe. Time to move on. I never wanted to be that kind of writer anyway.

Ive been running 5-7 days a week for 30 years, pretty much major injury free (not pain free). That is to say, Ive not had a pain that required me to visit a doctor. Ive missed plenty of days of running due to some ache or pain but no injury that has caused any permanent damage (as far as I know). I truly believe running is a safe and positive life long activity. All my running pain has come from stupidity and bullheadedness in training.

I can remember the first few months when I started running and how I hit what seemed like a barrier in progress. I could never run more than 25 miles per week without being sidelined with some new pain. About a year into my running I remember 40 miles per week seemed to be the maximum mileage I could not get passed without some new pain. A couple years later I was struggling with getting past 85 miles per week when it finally sunk in. Running was not the problem; it was how I put in the miles. I had finally realized I had learned how to run 25 then 40 then 85 miles per week with the body I had. I had learned what workouts I could or could not get away with. I learned when to run hard and when to take a day off. I learned to run 85 miles per week pain free and needed more information to get past this new plateau.

Running has taken a bad wrap as an injury prone sport. I cringe when I read articles badmouthing my sport (not just because I sell running shoes!). I believe a big part of the problem is from runners who run to a doctor when they get a pain. For too many runners, especially new runners, the excitement and passion for the sport has them visiting a doctor in hope of not missing a few days of running. A knee pain that could have been corrected by a more stable shoe, an arch support or a few days off is not what I would consider an injury. As Ive said, its just the learning curve.

Run safe, run forever,
Randy Step