Yes
The marathon, a 26.2-mile test of endurance, sparks something ancient in us. “We evolved for long-distance running, probably starting about two to three million years ago, to help our ancestors hunt,” says Professor Daniel Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University.
That legacy shows up in our biology. A 2020 University College London study of 138 first-time London Marathon runners found that training reduced blood pressure and aortic stiffness – enough to reverse the age of your arteries by about four years. Dr Anish Bhuva, a cardiologist at UCL, who co-led the study, says that “the biggest improvements were in older runners with higher baseline blood pressure”.
Regular training may slow aspects of biological ageing
The benefits can also extend to the skeleton. As Professor Alister Hart, an orthopaedic surgeon at UCL, notes: “The kneecap has the thickest cartilage in the body because it takes the greatest load.” In his MRI studies, runners who followed the four-month London Marathon training plan – with modest weekly increases, strength work and recovery – showed no joint deterioration during the plan, and some improved. “Bones need impact, they strengthen through it,” he says.
