A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine examined how running a sub-4 minute mile impacts longevity and healthy aging. The study was a collaborative undertaking between researchers in the U of A’s Faculty of Nursing, the HEART Laboratory at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, with methodological and analytical expertise provided by Drs. Douglas Dover and Padma Kaul at the CVC.
Inspired by the 70th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s record-breaking mile run of 3:59.4, the study utilized a publicly available database to identify the first 200 athletes to run a mile in under 4 minutes. The researchers compared each runner’s date of birth, the date of their first successful mile attempt, and current age (or age of death if deceased) with the typical life expectancy associated with their country of origin. The study population included only male athletes since no women have yet to run a sub-4 minute mile.
Despite the common perception that extreme exercise is detrimental, study findings demonstrated that this group of runners exceeded their predicted life expectancy by an average of 4.7 years. Although the study focused on a specialized group of elite athletes who had trained from a young age, the researchers emphasize that regular movement is vital and that moderate to vigorous exercise can provide benefits for the general population. Additionally, they suggest that extending this research to elite female runners would likely yield comparable longevity benefits, regardless of the sub-4 minute mile barrier.
Commenting on their experience working with the CVC, Drs. Stephen Foulkes and Mark Haykowsy note that “collaborating with CVC on our project substantially improved the quality and content of our manuscript, which was fundamental to its publication in the top ranked journal in Sports Medicine. Doug and Padma were incredibly responsive, communicative and insightful, and their knowledge of population health and epidemiologic approaches really strengthened the depth and rigour of our longevity analysis.”
This paper was co-authored by Stephen Foulkes, PhD; Dean Hewitt, MSc; Rachel Skow, PhD; Douglas Dover, PhD; Padma Kaul, PhD; André La Gerche, MBBS, PhD; and Mark Haykowsky, PhD.
Read more about the findings of this study on the U of A Folio website.
