Runners live longer

5 miles in 52 minutes on November 18. 

Not that great but the farthest I've run in a long time and a good step to running 10K in under an hour. The knees are responding to patience and care.

Stanford University started a long term project in January 1984 to find out if running really was a good idea. All the participants were at least 50 years old at the outset in 1984. Stanford also recruited a similar group who did not run as a control. The non-running group did exercise and they ran if they wanted to but were not the 'committed' runners of the running group.

Conclusion  Vigorous exercise (running) at middle and older ages is associated with reduced disability in later life and a notable survival advantage. At 19 years [into the study from a start in 1984], 15% of runners had died compared with 34% of controls. Runners had a significantly lower risk of an HAQ-DI [Health Assessment Questionnaire]score of 0.5 (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.46-0.84).

It must be strange for medical researchers to follow a group of middle age people to start with into old age and watch them die. Then to find out reasons for the deaths and to plot and analyse the data. 

This project, now ongoing for 24 years was reported on after:

• 8 years
• 13 years
• and now the latest report after 21 years.

At the 13 year point the researchers titled they research paper: Postponed Development of Disability in Elderly Runners. However by the 21 year point with such a strong divergence in health the paper is titled: Reduced Disability and Mortality among Aging Runners.

Running is associated with a whole set of healthy choices in terms of nutrition, weight control, alcohol consumption and even seat belt use. So it is not just the miles on the road that make a difference.

I'm going to try to keep on running.