03/12/2025
🏃♀️💬 Do marathons ruin your joints?
A new survey of 3,804 marathon runners suggests the answer is probably not.
In this large cohort, the biggest predictors of hip or knee arthritis weren’t training volume at all—they were age, BMI, past injuries or surgeries, and family history.
Even more interesting:
📌 How many marathons someone had done, how fast they ran, how many miles they logged each week, and how many years they’d been running weren’t associated with a higher risk of hip or knee arthritis.
While arthritis was self-reported—a key limitation—the study still pushes back against the assumption that long-distance running ruins your joints.
👟 Our key tip for runner-clients and active folks:
Protecting your joints isn’t just about logging miles — it’s about smart training, recovery (& enough sleep) and strengthening to be able to tolerate the running load.
👉 If you’re looking to keep running, avoid knee/hip pain, or just want to optimise your activity playing sport or staying fit—give us a call. We can perform an assessment and tailor a plan to suit you.
Here’s to happy, healthy running and strong bodies! 🏃♀️🏃♂️
DOI: 10.1177/19417381231190876