Elite runners live years longer than the average person, scientists find: ScienceAlert

Running 120 km (75 miles) for 10 hours a week is undoubtedly an extreme challenge. But far from pushing the body beyond its limits, a new study suggests that some professional athletes are adding years to their lives with such brutal routines.

The analysis includes public health data from the first 200 people to run a mile in under 4 minutes in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. According to a team of researchers from Canada and Australia, these professional runners lived, on average, almost five years longer than the general population.

The results contradict the view that too much exercise has negative long-term health effects. Pushing the human body to peak performance could actually be beneficial, at least for some.

While numerous epidemiological studies suggest that physically active people live longer than inactive people, it is still unclear whether exercising more than recommended is good or bad for health.

Some scientists suspect that the lifestyles of elite athletes who compete in marathons, endurance cycling or triathlons could put undue strain on their hearts and increase their risk of early death. But while strenuous exercise can certainly cause those who engage in sedentary jobs to develop health problems, the consequences may be different for experienced athletes.

In 2022, a Harvard study found that people who exercise more than recommended can reduce their risk of death by 30 percent – 10 percent more than those who meet activity guidelines.

In fact, write University of Alberta cardiologist Stephen Foulkes and his colleagues, epidemiological studies of Tour de France cyclists, Olympic athletes and rowers have shown longer life expectancies compared to the general population.

Now researchers have shown that this pattern also applies to the fastest mile runners.

Athletes who can cover a mile in under 4 minutes are a unique group known for pushing their respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic and musculoskeletal systems to peak performance.

To achieve this level of speed, runners regularly participate in vigorous physical activity throughout the week.

In 2018, cardiologists found that the first 20 runners to run a mile in under 4 minutes lived an average of 12 years above the general life expectancy.

The new study looks at a larger cohort over three decades.

Interestingly, runners who completed a mile in under four minutes in the 1960s had a longer life expectancy than runners who accomplished the feat in consecutive decades.

“This may reflect an improvement in life expectancy in the general population,” the authors suggest, as well as “management of several important communicable and non-communicable diseases.”

In other words, not all improvements in life expectancy among professional athletes may be due to their lifestyle alone. For example, it is possible that athletes are more likely to have favorable genes compared to the general population. In the group of 200-mile runners, the researchers counted 20 pairs of siblings and several father-son duos.

“While we were unable to determine the cause of death for the majority of runners, studies of Tour de France cyclists and cohorts of Olympians (including middle and long-distance runners) suggest that the effects on longevity are primarily due to reduced cardiovascular levels – and cancer rates are caused -related mortality,” write Foulkes and colleagues.

The result of their analysis, the team adds, “reinforces the benefits of exercise across the lifespan, even at the training levels required for peak performance.”

The study was published in British Journal of Sports Medicine.