[RUNNING EPIDEMIOLOGY] 1 Current statistics in Running Participation: Everything started from Frank shorter who placed first in the

e 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Interesting story about an imposter. This gave a more worldwide recognition after this episode. During 1976 about 26,000 people participated in marathons

During 2009 about 467,000 people participated in marathons

According to the NCAA there has been a 106 percent increase in cross country participation since 1981-1982 Outdoor and indoor track and field were among the most popular collegiate sports in 2009-2010 In the high school system there is an estimate of 450,000 participants since 2002-2003

Injury incident reports among runners in different level Head: Only in 2 young athletes track and field unable to report the severity of the case and nature. Spine/trunk: Track and field higher rate of injury compare to cross country, marathon or recreational runners. This is due to the different discipline performed in a track and field competition. Upper Extremity: Again most injuries were reported during track and field studies secondary again for the dynamic involved in the different disciplines.

Lower Extremity: higher injury rate was reported on marathoners, recreational runner and cross-country runners than track and field athletes. Being the knee at the most common injury site followed by the lower leg.

Injury Setting (practice vs competition) There is limited date on injury setting. However, usually there is a higher injury

rate during practice compare to competition regardless of the level in cross-country. This could be in result of the amount of mileage performed during
practice and preparation to a competition.

Onset of an injury Usually injuries to the lower extremity are form overuse secondary to micro trauma to tendon, cartilage and ligaments. In a study of 95 competitive running club

track athletes reported a 71% of injury to the lower limbs and were caused by over use for those middle and log distances runners. In another study there was about the same distribution attributing injury rate to over use in young elite track and field athletes.
Time of season/year One study of 147 elite track and field athletes done by Dsouza reported a higher injury rate at the beginning of the year. This is could be the result of a poor periodization and pre season programming for the athletes. In another, study
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reported a high increase of injury close to competition months, we could infer that this is secondary to an increased in load and intensity. To finish, there has been a correlation between injury rate of a given month and the distance covered during the preceding month, this basically means
that an increased mileage in a month could put you at risk for an injury. Injury type

Strain injuries were more common among marathoners; tendinitis injuries were more frequent in recreational runners.

Achilles tendinitis and patellar tendon were the most common types of tendinitis.

Stress fracture was more prevalent on marathoners, recreational and competitive track club populations.

Posterior tibial stress syndrome shin splins and patella femoral pain syndrome knee pain most common reported lower leg injury.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Take home message: It is evident that running competitors from elite, professional, recreational athletes will increase in the years coming up resulting in a growth of injury reports. Lower extremity will have a higher injury rate that includes the knee, as being the most area affected in the human body. Athletes will tend to injure during practice or preparation to an event than in an actual event it self. Most of the injuries are overuse in nature secondary to the repetitive impact that takes in running. There are possibilities that injuries occurs early in the year or during pre season secondary to poor periodization, close to competition time secondary to increase in load/intensity of training and relationship of injury rate and mileage of a preceding month could be secondary to poor recovery time.

By Carlos Jimenez DPT, CSCS, PES

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References: 1- 2010 Marathon, Half marathon and State of the Sport Reports: Running USAs Annual Marathon Report. http: www.runningusa.org/node/57770. Accessed on October 16, 2011 2- Monti D. Healthy gains in USA road race participation for 2009. 1/4/10. Running Competitor. Accessed October 22, 2011, from http//running.competitor.com/2010/01/news/healthy-gains-in-usa-road-raceparticipation 3- National Collegiate Athletic Association (2003) 1981-82 2009-10 NCAA sports. Sponsorship and participation rates report. www.ncaa.org. Accessed October 16, 2011 4- DSouza D. Track and field athletic injuries - a one year survey. Br J Sports Med 1994; 28: 197-202 Rest of References will be provided upon request: email to ultimateperformancefc@gmail.com

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