Another Advantage to Being a Runner

Just one more reason to pound pavement: Running a few times a week can lower your risk of dying from pneumonia and other respiratory diseases, says a new study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Researchers followed 150,000 runners and walkers over 11 years and compared their reported number of miles logged per week with current physical activity recommendations. The results: People’s risk of respiratory death decreased by 34 percent when they exceeded the recommendations (150 minutes per week of moderate exercise, and 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise) by one- to two-fold.

So how exactly can you run off your risk? According to the researchers’ formula, you would need to run about 15 miles a week at a pace of 10 minutes per mile in order to lower your risk by 45 percent.

Don’t worry if you’re not a runner. Walking showed the same benefit, says lead researcher Paul Williams, Ph.D. The caveat: You would need to walk about 50 percent farther or walk for twice as long to expend the same energy as running, he says.