Number, cost of injury claims spurs call for caution
RUNNING is obviously good for your health — but it can also cause plenty of strife.
More than 7000 injury claims related to running have been accepted in Otago over the past five years.
That added up to claims worth $3.6 million, an ACC spokesman said yesterday.
Running injuries in Otago during the period peaked last year, when there were 1183 claims totalling $682,214. There were 636 claims this year by July 31.
New Zealand ultrarunning great Lisa Tamati, now working as a coach, said it was pleasing to see people running for their health and wellbeing, especially during stressful times such as lockdown, but it seemed some were going early and going hard.
“Everyone thinks that running is easy and that you put one foot in front of the other and it’s a simple thing: you buy a pair of shoes and then off you go.
“It’s not. It’s a skill like ballet that you need to work on and perfect.
‘‘You need good form, you need strength and mobility, you need a coach and a properly structured plan.”
Tamati, who competed in 140 ultramarathons around the globe, totalling over 70,000km , said stress was another major factor in injuries.
“When you’re stressed, your body is tighter, your immune system is down and your digestive system isn’t working as well. Learning to manage our stress levels is so important.
“Getting out in the elements for a run is great for your mental health. We need to be out in nature, in the sunshine and pushing ourselves. It’s part of our DNA and is hugely beneficial to our mental and physical wellbeing.”
Tamati said it was common for ‘‘weekend warrior’’ runners to sign up for a marathon or halfmarathon without a plan.
They try to cram in their training and end up injured and demoralised.
“Your fitness is really hard won. When you get an injury, you’re back to scratch again so preventing injuries is so important.”
ACC, which invests about $80 million in injury prevention, has sounded a similar caution.
Between now and late November, Covid permitting, the Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Queenstown and Dunedin marathons, along with several ultramarathons, will attract thousands of regular and parttime runners.
Across New Zealand, there were 81,845 claims accepted for runningrelated injuries over the past five years, which cost $52.6 million to help people recover.
On the back of Covid19 lockdowns, there were 4111 running injuries in spring 2020 (September, October, November) — the highest seasonal figure since 2016.
The 4044 age group had the most runningrelated injury claims (9712) over the past five years ahead of the 2529 (8669) and 3539 (8575) groups.