People have been telling me for years that I run too much, that exercising nearly every day is not good for me. And some of these naysayers are loving family members. My beloved Grandma Beatrice Abrams once said, “Running again, why ? You might sweat. Besides, you ran yesterday.” In response I would try to explain to her that it made me feel better, physically and emotionally, and that regular aerobic exercise had a cumulative salubrious effect. Now there is additional evidence supporting her grandson.

According to a Stanford Medical School new release Regular running slows the effects of aging. This is the conclusion of a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found. “The study has a very pro-exercise message,” said James Fries, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine at the medical school and the study’s senior author. “If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise.” These findings appear in the 8/11/08 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, a bi-monthly peer-reviewed medical journal.