At what point does running start to prematurely age you?

I am turning 50 this month, have been running for over 38 years, longest break two missed days the entire time, still running 75+ miles a week. I went to a bank today and one of the employees recognized me from seeing me run in Crocs with my family and asked me to explain why we run in Crocs. They were having a slow day and three of them were together. For the heck of it, I challenged them based on the Crocs info to locate my record in their system. They located the last name quickly, but had a hard time figuring out the first name confusing me with my kids. I gave them a hint - how old do you think I am? Their guesses were from early 30s to early 40s in spite of the fact that I mentioned earlier I had two married kids.

So I suppose at least for me the drop-off point the OP is asking about has not yet arrived, but I am guessing it varies from individual to individual.

That's a great story, and thank you for that.

I am going under anonymous unregistered name and like to tell a similar incident that happened to me.

I had a major surgery a little over a year ago, and being major, I was put out under general anesthesia. I had an attending resident doctor, of course, not the surgeon, and had to stay overnight due to among other things, very low and irregular heart rate, which may be running related, btw.

But the attending resident doc comes in before I went to bed and before he left for the night, and with a big grin on his face, proceeds to tell me that I had caused some confusion because before he was to clock out, he had to sign off on our charts. But he saw my chart and the age listed and sent it back to records, saying that there was a mistake, the guy he wanted to chart (me) was much younger. They sent the chart back and said, no, that was mine. He checked room numbers and all, and realized that it was me, and he went on to explain he couldn't believe how fit I was and he couldn't believe that my age was actually XX. Granted, he was a lot younger, but he really was getting a kick out of the whole thing, and kind of gave of an air of giving me a verbal pat on the back or a high five for keeping on top of these things.

So, yeah, there is something to staying fit and warding off the pitfalls of aging.

"The National Runners and Walkers Health Study in 2013, analyzing over 89000 runners, including marathon runners, showed that running does not increase the risk of osteoarthritis. This study also showed that running decreases the risk of osteoarthritis, and hip replacement, due to the lower body mass index (BMI) of the running population."

My wife and I are runners, cyclists and lift weights , my wife also does those classes at the gym, we’re also in our late 50’s and we often discuss this issue because in our circles some of the most avid runners also look the oldest. We are not doctors , don’t pretend to be so our conclusions as to why are purely visual by watching these runners lifestyles. Runners seem to think that Running is the be all and end all to overall health, they do little if any weight lifting, actually very little of anything else, they appear to care very little with regards to diet or alcohol intake because they think Running will solve everything. Posture , very big issue as well but to be fair I also see this with older cyclists, horrible! nothing says I’m old like a hunched back. Again , I stress these are just my observations.

Age 63, 6'1", 155 lb. 50+ miles per week.

Chubby guys my age look much younger but that's OK. They almost always have health issues that I don't have.

I suppose there are people who associate a chubby, moon face with a baby's features and hence youth (somehow ignoring the blubber). I associate visible cheekbones and a slim physique with youth and health.

As they say - it's in the eye of the beholder. Gaunt may have its fans. But you have confirmed the vanity exposed by this thread.

No one is claiming running increases the risk of arthritis. But it does not guarantee that one will escape it. Age does what it does.

One example.

Prematurely aged at 65. The salt air and gusty winds in the town where she lives is probably a contributing factor.

olympics.nbcsports.com

Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic marathon champ in 1984, runs London Marathon at 65

OlympicTalk

Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first Olympic women's marathon champion in 1984, ran her first 26.2-mile race in three years at Sunday's London Marathon.

Open link

That's generally true if you have healthy joints & no previous injuries or trauma.

I partially tore my ACL playing one on one basketball with my son 15 yrs ago. Lol. A recent MRI has shown OA of the joint with more than likely replacement needed down the road.

I also completely ruptured my posterior tibial tendon (PTT) in an uphill sprint finish in a 5k about 7 yrs ago. MRI shows OA & major degenerative changes of the joint with ankle fusion surgery needed in the future.

So, if you're a runner & sustain a major injury/trauma to a joint, you'll more than likely develop post-traumatic osteoarthritis over time.

Wow!...what a story - what was surgery for?

It was a complete tear of the quadricep off of the knee cap - totally disconnected and took some small bone fragments with it.

And it was caused because I wore the wrong running shoes- ones that amounted to a racing flat with no grip on the sole. Problem was, it was raining and my usual go-to shoes were wet, so I grabbed a dry pair of the same shoe but was the previous year's model, assuming that it had good nubs on the sole like the current year model did. Well, it didn't because they had changed the design, but I assumed it did (just looking at the top as I put them on).

Taking out the garbage before I ran, i saw a stretch of wet moss-covered walkway on a downhill slope and thought that could be trouble, so I walked with one foot on the wet grass and one foot on the mossy walkway, thinking that could give me control but also not wanting to get both feet wet in the grass. I started hydroplaning on the wet moss and while i know to roll forward in a skid, I couldn't because I was going downhill (falling back), My other leg tucked under my butt in a bend and when i hit the ground, the quad tore off. Most painful moment of my life. People heard me screaming and ignored me, which I do not appreciate, btw.

Anyway, thanks for asking.

Moral of this story: know your running shoes and be very careful to pick ones with the proper soles necessary for the traction needed under the conditions.

Last tidbit: the injury is something I feel every minute of every day, and while I can still run, it's not nearly as fast as I could before. While I used to be competitive in my age group, I'm not anymore. My surgeon told me, for pro-athletes (which I am not by a long stretch), it customarily means an end to their careers.

Surely you’ve read about sun damage and body fat while reading these anecdotes.

but to specifically answer, the age is 5.

At what age does running make you age prematurely? About five years after not wearing/not reapplying a decent sunscreen I’d say.

sunscreen is worse than UV! door number 3 early/late sun is good for you . Wear protective clothing when not in the shade during high UV hours.

I look my age ,66.

Casually mentioned to a 50 something runner that I was turning 80 in a few months.

Sad part is they believed me!

Ultrarunners tend to look like sh*t.

Have you seen some of the hardcore ultrarunners? Guys like Jamil Curry and Courtney Duwalter easily look 10 years older than they are. They are in their mid 30s but their faces look close to 50 and resemble those of heavy smokers.

No amount of sunscreen will save your skin from years of 100+ mpw out in the burning sun.

Most people lie to themselves about how old they look. Also, other people when asked to guess someone's age, tend to guess lower ages in order to be polite and complimentary.

Most runners look 10 years older than they are. Too much sun and wrinkles, too little fat under the skin.

So much opinion and dogma in this thread, so little hard evidence from appropriately designed surveys and so little acknowledgement at how aging obesity, poor mobility and stiff movement are.

It would be fascinating to have a survey with two cohorts of people over 50. One comprising of hundreds of couch potatos and the other comprising hundreds of 20+ years runners.

Mix these people up and get non self-selected volunteers to see these people in person and ask the volunteers to complete a survey asking them a number of dummy questions about each person they are rating with the key question of age estimation buried in there.

I think most of the dogma about running aging you would be shown to be utter BS.

Even better would be to have all these people examined by medical professionals and key health indicators measured: BP, resting HR, cholesterol, blood glucose, BMI, 2 minute heart rate recovery from exercise, VO2MAX etc etc. Even the most ardent "running ages you" dogmatist knows what the medical people would say.

Really can't wait for the false equivocations.

It's the sun exposure that gets runners or any outdoor lifestyle. It's simple to prevent: wear sunscreen DAILY even when overcast. Pay attention to neck, ears, and full face (even eyelids/lips). Don't forget sun glasses and hat even when overcast. Nothing ages you faster than an unhealthy lifestyle so go enjoy your running. Most runners I know not only look good but also just have an overall youthful energy as well.