The problem with running injuries☆



Editorial

The problem with running injuries☆

I entered my first running race（a 60-m sprint）when I was 6 years old，and have run and competed ever since for the past 55 years.When I was 19 years old，I entered the Physical Education program at the FederalTechnical Institute in Zurich，where I became exposed to running and running injury research，and although I have never researched running myself，through some unexplainable fate，I have been in science laboratories where running research was performed ever since.Therefore，my editorial needs to be viewed in that context:an active runner all life long，exposed to running research on a daily basis，but never having done running research myself.

I have been fascinated by the fact that the rate of running injuries has not declined over the past 45 years1of systematic research and millions of dollars invested by academic researchers and running shoe companies.There are 2 criticisms that I have made to my running research colleagues:first，I was puzzled why research in this area was based on the mechanics of running exclusively，and second，I questioned why distance runners were never engaged as active participants，but rather were treated as passive subjects that were measured and tested like one would test laboratory rats.After all，runners may have crucial insights of why they got injured，so why not explore this collective experience？

In a recent opinion piece in this journal，Hulme and Finch2make a point for pragmatism in running injury research.They argue for research with runners rather than research for runners: an active engagement of runners in interpreting their injury history.Subjective research with runners actively involved in the research process supplementing the objective biomechanics research.

I would like to add to this proposal that running injury research should also pay attention to the biological properties of the musculoskeletal apparatus of runners，rather than just the mechanical loading.Some runners are able to log 150 and 200 km per week for years without injury or pain，while others cannot go from 20 to 40 km per week without getting repeatedly and severely injured.Can that be explained by the amount of pounding on the joints，muscles，ligaments，and bones；the biomechanics of running exclusively？Or could it be that some runners have stronger bones，more resilient muscles，and more stable joints that can absorb the mechanical loads imposed by running readily while others have brittle bones and muscles that tear every time they reach top speed.Lifelong running makes me believe that mechanical loading might merely be a small part of the whole equation，and biomechanics researchers might have encouraged each other in barking up the wrong tree for decades by measuring mechanical variables（impact forces，active forces，pronation angles，Q-angles，muscle weakness）while neglecting the properties of the musculoskeletal tissues and the specific social and environmental factors that every runner experiences differently.

Hulme and Finch2make the argument for combining quantitative with qualitative research，a multi-factorial approach where the mechanical loading produced by running is merely one component of the injury equation，and the runners are active participants in the research helping identify why they get injured and what might be the cause underlying their particular injury.I would be surprised if such an approach might not give better results than what has been achieved over the past 45 years of biomechanical investigation.Running injury research has stalled from the very beginning.There has been a lack of original ideas，intuitive thinking，end user involvement，and a pragmatic approach to the problem.It is time for a change and Hulme and Finch2are pointing in the right direction.I sincerely hope that somebody listens.

References

1.Samaan CD，Rainbow MJ，Davis IS.Reduction in ground reaction force variables with instructed barefoot running.J Sport Health Sci 2014；3:143-51.

2.Hulme A，Finch C.The epistemic basis of distance running injury research: a historical perspective.J Sport Health Sci 2016；5:172-5.

Walter Herzog，Co-Editor-in-Chief

Human Performance Laboratory，Faculty of Kinesiology，University of Calgary，Calgary，Alberta T2N 1N4，Canada

E-mail address:wherzog@ucalgary.ca Available online 8 March 2016

☆This is an editorial on Hulme and Finch’s article The epistemic basis of distance running injury research:A historical perspective published in Journal of Sport and Health Science.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2016.03.001

2095-2546/©2016 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license（http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/）.