[MrPiper]

Elderly joggers were half as likely to die prematurely

However, most of the non-joggers could still get around since they did not have bad knees. Ask me how I know!

I would like to see this same study with regular walkers.

[fr_freak]

Elderly joggers were half as likely to die prematurely from conditions like cancer than non-runners.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if it were the other way around. Healthier people tend to want to do physical activities. For instance, someone who has got a lot of energy all of the time is more likely to take up jogging than someone who feels tired or run down all of the time. The poorer health of the non-runner would then also lead to the earlier death.

[GOP Poet]

this is my experience as a life long runner. Fountain of youth for me.

[Our man in washington]

Whenever I need to get my pulse taken, I always say before they start “by the way, I’m a long-distance runner.” Otherwise, they look at me funny.

[SueRae]

I incorporated running into my exercise program (at 52)about 7 months ago. It has trimmed inches off of me that I could never get rid of through swimming or walking. They key is balance for me. I can’t even run one full lap around the track but work it in intervals for 3-5 miles, 2-3 times per week. I do buy new shoes frequently.

Staying active, no matter what the cardio activity, is key to good health. I know it improves my mood as well.

[xp38]

Then there is always the story of Jim Fixx... here is the wiki summary

James F. Fixx, from New York, NY, USA, was a graduate of Oberlin College. He worked as an editor with Saturday Review, McCall’s, Life, Horizon and Audience magazines. He had written for magazines such as Saturday Review, Life and Playboy. His first writing job was at the Oberlin News Tribune, his next the Sarasota Journal. In his youth he worked as a gas pump attendant.

Fixx was a member of the high-IQ club Mensa and published three collections of puzzles: Games for the Super-Intelligent, More Games for the Super-Intelligent and Solve It! The back flap of his first book says: “...He spends his time running on the roads and trails near his home, training for the Boston Marathon.”

Fixx started running in 1967 at age 35. He weighed 240 pounds (=108.8 kilograms) and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. Ten years later, when his book, Complete Book of Running (which spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the best-seller list) was published, he was 60 pounds lighter and smoke-free. The book had inspired millions of people. In his books and on television talk shows, he extolled the benefits of physical exercise and how it considerably increased the average human being’s life expectancy.

The cover of Jim Fixx’ book, The Complete Book of Running, featured Fixx’s muscular legs against a red cover. The book sold over a million copies.

In 1980, Fixx wrote a follow up book entitled Jim Fixx’s Second Book of Running: The Companion Volume to The Complete Book of Running.

In 1982, Fixx published Jackpot!, the story of what happened after the publication of The Complete Book of Running when he experienced the “Great American Fame Machine”, becoming richer and more celebrated than he could have imagined. He had become a guru of the running boom.

Maximum Sports Performance, published posthumously, discusses the physical and psychological benefits of running and other sport, including: increasing self-esteem; acquiring a “high” from running; and being able to cope better with pressure and tension.

Fixx died at the age of 52 of a massive heart attack, after his daily run, on Route 15 in Hardwick, Vermont. The autopsy revealed that atherosclerosis had blocked one coronary artery 95%, a second 85%, and a third 50%. Many who opposed his beliefs said this was proof running was harmful.[1] However, Fixx came from a family where the men had poor health histories. His father suffered a heart attack at the age of 35 and died of one at 42. Given Fixx’s unhealthy lifestyle until he took up running, many argued that running added many years to his life.

A carved granite monument—a book with an inscription to Jim Fixx from the people of northeast Scotland—now stands in Hardwick Memorial Park, in Hardwick, Vermont.

[Hacklehead]

It completely stopped the aging process for Issac Hayes.

[BluH2o]

Something I've done consistently for years is walk a couple of miles most mornings. Maintain 120 steps per minute and find a couple of hills along the route and you get an excellent cardiovascular workout ... if you want to step it up even more put a 25 pound sand bag in a back pack. The best all around exercise of all is swimming laps, not close enough to a pool to make that practical ... but when the opportunity arises that's where you'll find me.

[HamiltonJay]

This study at least on its surface just verifies what other studies have shown about regular exercise in general. Unless the non runners were also daily exercisers, I wouldn’t take up jogging yet.

Exercising daily though, especially cardio exercising, is definately good for the body.