Run on: ageing runners experience enhanced health
DAVID GRIFFITHS
SCIENTISTS at Humboldt State University have shown how regular running wards off the ravages of time, helping you look and feel younger. In the study, Professor Justus Ortega and his team looked at the running economy and mechanics of 15 young runners and 15 older runners, each of whom had a history of running at least three times a week.
Results showed that the elderly athletes of 60 and above expended almost the same amount of metabolic energy as those one third their age. “Older runners were as efficient as younger runners and, in fact, maybe slightly more efficient,” Ortega said.