--- title: Running Prevents Against Death and Heart Disease description: Whether you are the tortoise or the hare, running can help reduce the risk of heart disease canonical: https://time.com/3048568/even-if-youre-bad-at-it-running-reduces-risk-of-death/ author: Hannah Goldberg article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-28T20:55:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:59.085Z article:section: Health og:title: Whether The Tortoise or The Hare: Running Greatly Reduces Risk of Death og:description: Running for 5 minutes a day can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease og:url: https://time.com/3048568/even-if-youre-bad-at-it-running-reduces-risk-of-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf058aa5a838f9826/69869d84adae447eaf544529/jacc-running.jpeg?branch=production&width=700&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 700 og:image:height: 394 og:image:alt: JACC Running og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Whether The Tortoise or The Hare: Running Greatly Reduces Risk of Death twitter:description: Running for 5 minutes a day can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf058aa5a838f9826/69869d84adae447eaf544529/jacc-running.jpeg?branch=production&width=700&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Running Reduces Risk of Death Even If You're Super Slow > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Hannah Goldberg](https://time.com/author/hannah-goldberg/) ## Hannah Goldberg Jul 28, 2014 8:55 PM UTC  "Hazard ratios (HRs) of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by running characteristic (weekly running time, distance, frequency, total amount, and speed). Participants were classified into 6 groups: nonrunners (reference group) and 5 quintiles of each running characteristic. All HRs were adjusted for baseline age (years), sex, examination year, smoking status (never, former, or current), alcohol consumption (heavy drinker or not), other physical activities except running (0, 1 to 499, or $500 MET-minutes/week), and parental history of cardiovascular disease (yes or no). All p values for HRs across running char- acteristics were <0.05 for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality except for running frequency of $6 times/week (p 1⁄4 0.11) and speed of <6.0 miles/h (p 1⁄4 0.10) for cardiovascular mortality." by [Hannah Goldberg](https://time.com/author/hannah-goldberg/) ## Hannah Goldberg Jul 28, 2014 8:55 PM UTC Whether you log a marathon or a single city block, running—even slowly—may greatly [reduce the risk of a cardiovascular-related death](http://time.com/3053081/running-daily/) when compared to people who do not run, says a new study published Monday in the _Journal of the American College of Cardiology._ The U.S. government and the [World Health Organization](http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/physical%5Factivity%5Fintensity/en/) currently suggest either 150 minutes of moderate-intensity (brisk walking, gardening or physical chores around the house) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise (running, cycling, swimming or competitive sports) per week. Yet very little research exists looking at the benefits of vigorous exercise below 75 minutes. Researchers examined data from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study to see if there was a connection between running and longevity. The research followed more than 55,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 100 over a period of 15 years, recording their daily activity, including running. They found that the benefits of running were the same regardless of sex, age, weight, health conditions and substance-use history, with all runners showing a 30% lower risk of death from all causes, and a 45% lower risk of death from a heart attack or stroke. Out of the original sample of people, 1,217 died of cardiovascular disease—and only 24% of them reported running as part of their exercise routine.  Trail runners follow path through mtn meadow Ascent—Getty Images Dr. DC Lee, lead author of the study and assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University, found that runners who ran less than an hour per week had the same longevity benefits as runner who clock more than 3 hours a week. However, those who ran more consistently over a period of six years benefited most. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3048568/even-if-youre-bad-at-it-running-reduces-risk-of-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3048568/even-if-youre-bad-at-it-running-reduces-risk-of-death/"},"headline":"Running Reduces Risk of Death Even If You're Super Slow","datePublished":"2014-07-28T20:55:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:59.085Z","description":"Whether you are the tortoise or the hare, running can help reduce the risk of heart disease","url":"https://time.com/3048568/even-if-youre-bad-at-it-running-reduces-risk-of-death/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness","Running"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf058aa5a838f9826/69869d84adae447eaf544529/jacc-running.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hannah Goldberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hannah-goldberg/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf058aa5a838f9826/69869d84adae447eaf544529/jacc-running.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"JACC Running","caption":"","creditText":"\"Hazard ratios (HRs) of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by running characteristic (weekly running time, distance, frequency, total amount, and speed). 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All p values for HRs across running char- acteristics were <0.05 for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality except for running frequency of $6 times/week (p 1⁄4 0.11) and speed of <6.0 miles/h (p 1⁄4 0.10) for cardiovascular mortality.\"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3048568/even-if-youre-bad-at-it-running-reduces-risk-of-death/","name":"Running Reduces Risk of Death Even If You're Super Slow"}}]}] ```