Has anyone ever sustained a DEBILITATING injury as a result of running?

happenstance? you mean like going on a 10km run and falling down a hole. A hole you wouldnt fall down if you were walking?

in the case of a traumatic event like falling into a hole, the cause of the injury was falling into the hole, not running. that's why I prefer to disqualify those kinds of injuries. i want to know whether running itself can seriously disable a person.

I broke both of my elbows doing the steeplechase once, one of them was shattered the other was "only" broken in two spots. That was pretty debilitating, does that count? or was that the fall that caused the injury or the barrier and not the actual running?

I don't know what you are looking for, running is generally a pretty healthy activity, its not like a linebacker who can't walk when he's 40 because of all the pounding to the vertebrae

Well that's a pretty debilitating injury...sure cools my enthusiasm for the steeple...

I'm pretty sure the OP means, an injury that comes entirely from running per se, not collisions or accidents or falling into sewers. Did anyone have a meniscus disintegrate after ten years of 80+ weekly mileage...that sort of thing.

yes. I developed arthritis in my feet due to the use of inappropriate orthotics. the orthotics were way too aggressive, and the joints of my feet were severely weakened after using them constantly for five months. then, when i suddenly switched to barefoot running, my weakened joints were permanently damaged.

Running since 1966. Nope.

Tom

Yes. Injury to the peroneus brevis (apparently--diagnosis never clear, but def. not a Jones fracture) that never healed. This was 30+ years ago.

Walked with a limp for ~ 2 years. Now walk a little asymmetrically, but generally without a limp.

Injury probably occurred when I switched my direction of running on an indoor track. When I pivoted to go the opposite way, I probably hurt it then. The irony, of course, is that I was switching directions in order to prevent injury.

I dislocated my attitude one time in a road race. I won the race by about a half mile and was awarded first place prize and a trip to Japan. Some coach for one of the guys behind me talked to the sponsor a few days after the race and got them to give the trip to HIS runner instead. Said I would /could not go. By the time I discovered I had been end arounded, the trip was already gone. My attitude took a real hit. Hard to recover from such a thing.

Can you tell me more about your injury? Did it hurt? Were you able to run at all with the condition?

anotherrunner wrote:

I broke both of my elbows

Hope you had a girlfriend, if you understand my meaning.

osteoarthritis wrote:

yes. I developed arthritis in my feet due to the use of inappropriate orthotics. the orthotics were way too aggressive, and the joints of my feet were severely weakened after using them constantly for five months. then, when i suddenly switched to barefoot running, my weakened joints were permanently damaged.

Dude, how many times do you have to be told to STFU and move on. I applaud you for not whining this time. We all know you cannot run and that it is the doctors fault. Get over it and find some other way to enjoy life and the sport. Coach or something.

AppleCore wrote:

osteoarthritis wrote:

yes. I developed arthritis in my feet due to the use of inappropriate orthotics. the orthotics were way too aggressive, and the joints of my feet were severely weakened after using them constantly for five months. then, when i suddenly switched to barefoot running, my weakened joints were permanently damaged.

Dude, how many times do you have to be told to STFU and move on. I applaud you for not whining this time. We all know you cannot run and that it is the doctors fault. Get over it and find some other way to enjoy life and the sport. Coach or something.

harsh?

When I was in college, my psoas went into spasms screwing up my back. I had to sleep on the floor for 6 months and didn't run again for 18 years. After I found out about my psoas and did stretches for it, I was able to run for a couple years.

Just when I was getting back in great shape, I had an accident at work tearing ligaments and muscles in my back and haven't run since.

Well, some days I feel like I'm working on a case of heart disease, coupled with skin cancer. All that running must be taking its toll...

crippled wrote:

Has anyone ever had an injury, caused directly by running, that resulted in significant functional disability (i.e. limited your ability to walk)? I'm not interested in happenstance traumatic injuries like falls and sprained ankles, etc., just stuff that was caused directly by running.

Maybe bad timing on this...

Ask Alberto Salazar.

Trackstar77 wrote:

Can you tell me more about your injury? Did it hurt? Were you able to run at all with the condition?

Christ, yes, it hurt, but only when I tried to take a step.

I went to a podiatrist who gave it a Low-Dye (sp?) strapping. This enabled me to jog a bit. I went to a fancy-shmancy runners' podiatrist in Queens a time or two--he came up with lightweight orthotics that, again, permitted a bit of jogging, but then caused other injuries.

In essence I've never been able to run since the injury. Nowadays if I have to "run" ten or twenty quick steps to catch a train or cross a street, it's entirely likely that I'll be limping around for a couple of days afterward. Though I've never particularly enjoyed walking (it was never the physical pleasure that running was), I do enjoy being able to get around on foot and without crutches, so I, in the words of Satchel Paige, "avoid running at all times."