Running A Marathon Could Help You Live Longer, Study Suggests

(CNN) — Need another reason to sign up for that marathon in 2020? New research suggests training and running a marathon for the first time could reverse some of the effects of aging on our bodies. Researchers found that for the 138 healthy, first-time marathon runners they tracked, training and completing the London marathon was associated with a four-year reduction in their “vascular age.” Specifically, they found that marathon training reversed the age-related stiffening of the body’s main artery and helped reduce blood pressure. As we age, the walls of our arteries, which deliver oxygen and nutrients to all our vital organs, grow thicker and stiffer, making our heart work harder to pump blood around our body. While a normal part of aging, this can contribute to the risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and kidney disease, the study said. “Our study shows it is possible to reverse the consequences of aging on our blood vessels with real-world exercise in just six months,” said senior author Dr. Charlotte Manisty, a senior lecturer at University College London and a consultant cardiologist at the Barts Heart Centre and University College Hospitals. “These benefits were observed in overall healthy individuals across a broad age range and their marathon times are suggestive of achievable exercise training in novice participants.” The greatest benefits were seen in older, slower male marathon runners with higher baseline blood ...
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