It’s long been said running is good for you and can add years to life expectancy; however, it doesn’t always work out that way.

The past few years, longtime runners I knew or knew of died early. When I say early, they made it to retirement age or close to it, but died of disease short of the average life expectancy for Americans (74.8 yrs for men; 80.2 for women). These runners not only didn’t add years to their lives, years got taken off.

(Before moving on, how about a macabre photo to match the topic of this post.)

I used to have a copy of “The Complete Book of Running”, written in 1977 by Jim Fixx, who became famous for his running knowledge and promoting its health benefits. Most longtime runners know Jim Fixx died of a heart attack, (while running, at age 52).

Jim Fixx had a congenitally-enlarged heart, and an early death by heart attack ran in his family. Longtime runners who die early could be genetically pre-disposed, thus running may lengthen life only a little, or not at all.

I brought up this topic with a few acquaintances in the running groups I join. We agree it’s not unheard of for runners to experience heart problems as they age. This seems so unfair. It’s like sticking to a low-fat diet and then finding out you have clogged arteries and need heart surgery. Or avoiding sun exposure and always using sunscreen, then getting skin cancer.

I found I needed a little reassurance as I assumed my diet and physical activity would be a strong antidote to age-related disease.

I found a couple reviews of a bunch of studies on the impact of running (Done by Harvard Health and Spring Link, respectively) that shows regular, moderate running has many benefits, including a longer life. On the other hand, UER (ultra-endurance running), increases chances of long-term health problems, including cardiovascular disease, though overall, health outcomes are better than non-runners.

This issue comes about because I’ve reached the point in my life that the end of it is not so far off. Age-related conditions come about that you never consider when younger. I think it’s natural to contemplate how things will go in the latter part of one’s life and strive to make it as pleasant as possible.

So, there’s really nothing more I can do. As I’ve written before, I don’t necessarily want to live a long life, but while I’m alive, I’d like to be healthy and active.

The cemetery photo was taken by an acquaintance after a forest fire very close to Spokane last month. The headstones aren’t stained with blood, but fire retardant. Perhaps I can find hope by thinking of my situation the same way—worries about health problems are like red-stained headstones—appearances that are worse than they really are.