Running a marathon takes years off arteries

If you are starting to regret that new year resolution to run a marathon, a study suggests you should hang in there.

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge celebrates after becoming the first runner to complete a marathon in under two hours. Picture: AP

If you are starting to regret that new year resolution to run a marathon, a study suggests you should hang in there.

Training for and running your first marathon can make your ­arteries four years younger and have a rejuvenating effect on blood pressure, it found.

For those already ruing their decision to volunteer for months of training and a gruelling 42.2km race, be assured that the prize on offer at the finish line is the chance to “reverse the consequences of ageing” on your blood vessels and reduce your stroke risk by more than 10 per cent.

You do not need to run quickly or train particularly hard to reap the benefits, researchers have said. They found that “older, slower individuals” enjoyed the greatest improvements in vascular health. The older you are, the greater the benefit, they explained.

Researchers took 138 healthy individuals, 49 per cent male and 51 per cent female, who had never run a marathon before and were not in regular training. The participants were aged between 21 and 69 and were tested six months before running the London Marathon in either 2016 or 2017 and again two weeks after finishing the race.

They trained for between 10km and 21km a week.

Their blood pressure and the stiffness of their aorta was measured using a process called cardiovascular magnetic resonance distensibility, allowing researchers to calculate an “aortic age”. As you age, the walls of your arteries stiffen, leading to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

The study concludes: “Training for and completing a marathon, even at a relatively low exercise intensity, reduces central blood pressure and aortic stiffness equivalent to an (approximately) four-year reduction in vascular age.”

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and conducted by researchers at Barts Health NHS Trust and University College London, found that men experienced a 1.4-year greater reduction on average compared with women, and that the group that benefited most was “older, slower male marathon runners with higher baseline blood pressure”.

It found “it was possible to reverse the consequences of ageing on vessel stiffening by approximately four years”.

The participants were not particularly fit or fast and completed the course 30 minutes slower than the average runner, suggesting they had reached a level of “achievable exercise”.

The study found that training for and running a first marathon reduces systolic blood pressure by the same amount as taking blood pressure medication and that “reductions of this magnitude reduce stroke mortality by over 10 per cent”.

Running a first marathon benefits arteries directly, rather than indirectly via weight loss. The study notes: “Although aortic stiffening increases significantly after 50, these data suggest that this is in part modifiable in individuals (with normal blood pressure).”

Marathon running has been ­associated with short-term damage to kidneys because of dehydration and stress on muscles and bones. It may also be dangerous for people with undiagnosed heart conditions. However, the study suggests the health benefits far outweigh the risks.

Charlotte Manisty, from Barts Health Centre and UCL, says doctors should consider encouraging patients to sign up for marathons or fun-runs as a form of “goal-­orientated exercise”.

“Our study highlights the importance of lifestyle modifications to slow the risks associated with ageing, especially as it appears to never be too late as evidenced by older, slower runners,” she adds.

The research followed healthy individuals but found that those with high blood pressure and stiffer arteries “might be expected to have an even greater cardiovascular response”.

The Times