Researchers study effects of running

For the past 11 years, a team of physicians and researchers at Mayo Clinic has been collecting data from athletes in an attempt to predict and prevent running injuries.

Runner’s Science, as the research study is known, studies the effects of distance running on the human body.

“The objective of Runner’s Science is to look into various problems that runners have so we can understand why they happen. If we can understand more about why these diseases or injuries happen, then we can start to look at ways to prevent them and fix them,” said Dr. Sara Filmalter, a Mayo Clinic family and sports medicine physician.

Over the past decade, research has looked at how food and fluid intake, foot strike and training distances affect runners.

“Our research showed, for example, half-marathon runners who ran less than three days per week during training, or whose long run was less than 10 miles at the peak of their training were more at risk for injury during their race,” said Dr. Filmalter.

Runner’s Science also uncovered significant findings related to food and fluid intake, and finishing time.

“We’ve found that runners who consume whole food during a distance race have slower paces, compared to the runners consuming gels, who had faster paces,” said Dr. Filmalter.

“Additionally, we found that runners with slower paces tend to be at the greatest risk for exercise-induced hyponatremia or low sodium, which can be very detrimental — even deadly. We found that slower runners stop more often and consume more water.”