Slow, occasional runners reap major health benefits. It can be tempting to focus on the elite marathoners running below five-minute miles as the peak of fitness. But new research is indicating that slow and more occasional runners may be the ones reaping huge health benefits. “Researchers analyzed information from about 1,000 healthy joggers ages 20 to 86, and about 400 people who were healthy, but did not jog, and sat most of the day. The analysis showed that light joggers were less likely to die over the 12-year study than those who were sedentary. ‘Light joggers’ were defined as those who ran at a speed of about 5 mph (12 minutes per mile) a few times a week, for less than 2.5 hours per week total.” The faster runners ran beyond 5 miles per hour, the higher the risk of death seemed to rise again. “The finding suggests there may be an upper limit for exercise dosing that is optimal for health benefits. If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy.” The results suggest that faster running may be harmful in some way, but the research team emphasizes the need for more research to understand if and why that might be the case. 

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