Treadmill or Natural Running.....!!!

[gcoe]

Four of the "five ifs" as you quote me are in fact necessary for just about any physical undertaking.

Higher impact physical activity is a risk factor for increased incidence of injury and I wasn't suggesting this is not the case. And I would not be recommending sedentary people who haven't run for a long time take up running as a first choice or without considerable support and medical clearance if warranted. Many of the health benefits of physical activity can be gained from moderate activity like walking or swimming.

BTW Kenneth Cooper has made a career out of popularizing exercise physiology. So I would take some of what he says, as with any exercise guru with a pinch of salt. However he isn't a very good source for bolstering your argument as he advocates running and actually published a book on the topic in the 80s

Early humans probably did both sprint and also run long distances at times - requirements for surviving on the savannah. However I am not saying the conditions of the New York marathon are entirely natural. But humans do all sorts of things that Are not natural and get away with it. We go into outer space for months at a time, swim incredibly long distances, parachute off rock faces, mountain climb etc etc you get my point. All these activities have huge inherent risks. It is part of being human is it not?

So why pick on poor old mundane runners? And to equate running with smoking????? That is bordering on the obscene. With an attiude like that may the Giant Spaghetti Monster in the sky help any poor unsuspecting runner who fronts up to your clinic

However thanks for the idea about the "5 Ifs and a Maybe" Quite catchy really! I might use it for the title of my upcoming book.

[Sole Man]

Early humans probably did both sprint and also run long distances at times - requirements for surviving on the savannah.

Undoubtedly - one of the not so blissful realities of the hunter gatherer existence was that whatever you hunt moves away from you, and whatever you gather soon runs out in the local area. I can see many situations where people might have had to run for hours at a time.