The Science of Running
July 17, 2007 - Aaron Baca
The fastest runners had barely finished gulping down water and massaging tender muscles when Georgia State researchers swarmed the finish line at the ING Georgia Marathon in March.
With 15,000-plus runners entered, the marathon was just ending, but the collection of volumes of race data was just beginning for a Georgia State team that turned the downtown Atlanta race into one of the biggest research projects ever sponsored by the College of Health and Human Sciences.
"With this many people, we are determined that we'll learn something from this event," Institute of Public Health professor Derek Shendell said days before the race.
Shendell helped organize a study of ING participants for the college to study the effects of long-distance running on average, noncompetitive athletes. Five faculty members are participating in the project, which also includes professors from HHS's nutrition, physical therapy and respiratory programs. It is believed to be the first large-scale study of recreational athletes.
Respiratory Therapy Director Lynda Goodfellow said, "This study is a novel approach where we get to combine so many disciplines that are focused on the same study group."
Tons of research has already been done on world-class athletes, but so far there is little in the academic journals to shed light on what happens to the recreational athlete before, during and after an event like the ING Georgia Marathon.
The HHS research team began tracking runners' training routines several months prior to the race and is now compiling data on how those routines paid off on race day. The team is most interested in knowing about pre-race routines, hydration and diet, and the effects of nutritional supplements.
In addition to Shendell and Goodfellow, the team includes nutrition associate professor Dan Benardot, physical therapy assistant professor Sheryl Flynn and clinical instructor Ralph "Chip" Zimmerman.
The college plans to release findings from the study later this year.