Running Valentines

Mark and Lorry in fitness and in health!

That latter possibility was considered during some experiments conducted not long ago at Princeton University. The researchers were trying to replicate earlier work in which the brains of mice given free access to running wheels subsequently fizzed with new brain cells, a process known as neurogenesis, and the mice performed better on rodent intelligence tests than those without access to wheels. To the Princeton researchers’ surprise, when they performed the same study with rats, which are apparently a little closer physiologically to human beings, running did not lead to neurogenesis. The rats’ brains remained resolutely unaffected by exercise.

The interesting thing was  that while the mice in the earlier experiments had lived in groups, the rats were kept in single-occupancy cages. Rats like to be together. The researchers wondered whether isolation could somehow be undermining the cerebral benefits of exercise at a cellular level.

Putting this idea to the test, they divided young male rats into groups housed either in threes or singly and, after a week, gave half of them access to running wheels. All of these rats ran, but only the rats with cage mates experienced rapid and robust neurogenesis. Not until after weeks of running, long after the other socially engaged rats’ brains had sprouted plentiful new neurons and neural connections, did the lone rats start to produce brain cells. Social isolation had dramatically suppressed and slowed the process.

So does this happen to us as human beings? There is plenty of research out there that suggests loneliness leads to reduced physical activity. A 2009 study on 229 men and women aged between 50 - 68 years and tested every three years concluded that loneliness among middle and older age adults is an independent risk factor for physical inactivity and increases the likelihood that physical activity will be discontinued over time. 

However a study of 8,871 adults aged 18 - 83 was published online in December. The researchers cross-correlated data about their cardiovascular fitness and relationship status. They were tested several times over the years at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. They found that single women who remained single also retained most of their fitness, while those who married tended to become less fit.

Meanwhile, men who divorced became fitter and men who remarried often let themselves go. The authors speculated that divergent worries about appearance and desirability could have been motivating single people to work out and married couples to slack off.

These are two very different studies. The first tested a farily old population with greater diversity in background and culture (and the subjects may have given up on finding a mate), whilst the second's subjects were from a wide age range but were predominantly white, affluent and possibly on the pull!

One thing for sure is that, although running is an individual sport, it can be a fantastic social activity! Many people who stick with running do so because they join a club or a group that enhances the whole experience. It would be interesting to see research on those who give up running and whether they are doing it in a group or are out there on their own.

Another interesting research topic could be on those who find love through running. Romance blossomed a couple of years ago for Mark and Lorry at Holme Pierrepont, so much so that they are getting married this Saturday! Congratulations go out to them and best wishes for a fantastic day. Rumour has it that, rather than jetting off for a honeymoon they will be turning out to run cross-country for their club the very next day! But then they did enjoy a lavish holiday in India last autumn, where the picture above was taken. They   They have a combined runbritain handicap score of of 23.3 (Mark 6.7, Lorry 16.6). Are there any other couples out there who can beat that?!

Another interesting area of research could be along the lines of runners who have shown their partners the light by introducing them to running. There seems to be a good number of celebrities out there who enjoy running together. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are regularly photographed when they step out in their running shoes. Mind you, I'm not so sure they make as great partners in running as they do in love as it has been reported that he, being the faster, has on occasion turned around to tell Katie to run harder and faster!

Mmmm, running together doesn't always work if one is having to run too fast or too slow but, at the end of the day (or at the beginning), it has to be a good thing if your partner can encourage you out of the door and perhaps lead by example, when you really don't feel like hitting the pavement or trails!