15 Facts About Running

Fact 1

Even if you’re a super-slow jogger, you’ll burn at least 10 calories per minute of running. That means you’ll run off half a block of Lindt Dark Chocolate in less than 23 min!

Fact 2

The record for most marathons run on consecutive days is 365! Belgian runner Stefaan Engels, knows as the “Marathon Man” set the record in 2011, aged 49!

Fact 3

Athletes dressed in red are more likely to win events than athletes wearing any other colour.

Fact 4

The fastest mile (approx. 1.6km) ever run was by Morrocan, Hitcham El Guerrouj, in 3:43:13 in 1999.

Fact 5

The fastest mile for a woman was set by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova, her time was 4:12.56 – the run was in 1996 and hasn’t been seriously challenged since!

Fact 6

An average man has enough energy in his fat stores to run non-stop for 3 days at 24km per hour. That’s FAST considering about 10-12km per hour is the average pace general punters run at. Please don’t try this at home

Fact 7

The oldest person to complete a marathon was born in 1911, making him 100 years old at the time. He was an Indian man named Fauja Singh. AND guess what? Fauja didn’t even start running until he was 89 years of age. It’s never too late!

Fact 8

Women were excluded from the Boston Marathon until 1972. But that didn’t stop them. In 1966, Roberta Gibbs, hid behind a bush and jumped out to complete the run and finished “unofficially” in 3:21:25! She was the first woman to complete the course.

Fact 9

Over 1 billion pairs of running shoes are sold world-wide each year.

Fact 10

12 of the world’s top-20 distance runners are members of the Kalenjin tribe of northwest Kenya.

Fact 11

Runners who played ball sports (i.e. soccer or footy) as kids had nearly 50 percent fewer stress fractures than runners who didn’t. Stanford University researchers found that runners who played ball sports had, “greater and more symmetrically distributed bone mass.” (Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine)

Fact 12

Physically active people have a 60 percent lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease than coach potatoes (The Lancet Neurology – Sweden)

Fact 13

In the feet, 26 bones, 33 joints, 112 ligaments, and a network of nerves, tendons, and blood vessels have to work together when we run!

Fact 14

Strides are extremely consistent among professional runners, usually between 185-200 steps per minute!

Fact 15

Music can boost your running performance by up to 15%! But only if you’re a particular kind of runner. If you tend to focus inward while running, music probably won’t help you much… but if you look for stimulus from your environment, pump the tunes to get over the finish line more quickly!