With the 112th Boston Marathon rapidly approaching, it seems that Tufts' fitness focus has turned to running. In fewer than two weeks, more than 200 runners are set to compete with the Tufts Marathon Team, ramping up long treadmill lines and hopping up and down at intersections as they anticipate a traffic light's switch from red to green.
But why?
According to researchers in Germany, the classic legend of a "runner's high" has been scientifically proven. People who experience a true runner's high are said to get a sense of euphoria from the elevated release of endorphins in the brain that results from the exercise.
While the notion of such a high has existed for years, scientists could not accurately test the difference between endorphin levels before and after exercise until recently, leaving the theory unproven.
According to a recent New York Times article, leading researchers around the country are supporting the German researchers' findings.
Daniel Enking is a sophomore who ran cross country in high school. At Tufts, Enking typically runs for pleasure about four times a week, completing about three miles outside during late-night hours. While he ran competitively in high school, he said that he runs more to release stress in college.
"It's a good way to exercise and get out and see nature," Enking said. "It's more of a relaxing thing."
Enking said he has experienced a certain type of high while running, albeit somewhat indefinable.
"I totally buy into it," he said. "There are certain days where you just feel exhausted after a run, but there are certain days when you feel totally refreshed and better ... It just makes you feel healthier."
Still, Enking said that he rarely gets a euphoric rush while doing his regular runs.
"The euphoric feeling doesn't happen that often," he said. "It may be the combination of pushing yourself really hard and finishing really well in a race and feeling good about that. It's very rare that it happens on just a regular run."
Men's track coach Ethan Barron, like Enking, said it is more unusual for people who run regularly to experience a high due to running.
"It's usually felt when you've pushed yourself in a distance race farther than the body theoretically should be able to do," Barron said. "It's probably more common that out-of-shape people feel it. It's more common for a distance runner to push themselves regularly."
Kevin Bright, an assistant coach on Barron's staff, said that while he believes running is a mood-enhancer, he doesn't know if it's possible to actually experience a high during or after a run.
"I think it's true, but I don't know whether or not it's a sense of satisfaction after you finish, or if [runner's highs] exist," Bright said. "I always interpret it as a sense of achievement you get after running."
Senior Eleanor Heidkamp-Young said that her runner's high is more of a general positive feeling, rather than the conventional notion that associates a high with feeling intoxicated.
Heidkamp-Young began running while training with her crew team during her junior year abroad at Oxford. This year, Heidkamp-Young is training for the Boston Marathon with the Tufts team and attempts to run about five times a week - and although the senior said that running makes her feel good, there is no genuine sense of euphoria associated with doing it.
"Running, for me, just makes me happy," Heidkamp-Young said. "So when it's a part of my day, I'm happy. But I can't say that while I'm running I feel high."
Don Megerle, director of the President's Marathon Challenge (PMC), said that he believes the positive aspects of running are evident due to participants' often addictive commitment to the PMC. Despite injuries and setbacks, Megerle said that even PMC runners who previously had sedentary lifestyles are completely committed to their training.
"They've been able to do something they never thought they could do before," Megerle said. "Once they've run one marathon, they want to do more and more."
Tufts alum Edita Zlatic (LA '07) is one such runner. Zlatic ran the Boston Marathon last year, but because of injuries she sustained in an accident, she's unable to run in the race this year.
Prior to beginning her training last year, Zlatic had never been a runner but eventually came to love the experience of training with the team and running the marathon so much that since her accident, she has slowly picked up the habit again.
Zlatic, who hopes to run in the race next year, did not mention ever experiencing a runner's high, but did say that running comes with emotional benefits.
"You feel happier," Zlatic said. "It feels so satisfying and rewarding."
Barron said that he believes that sensations similar to the runner's high can be attained through any number of activities.
"I kind of hate how's it's limited to running," Barron said. "Anything that gets your heart rate running can work, whether it's running or dance or sex, and then you get your endorphins going. When you get so many released that your body doesn't know what to do with it, you get stoned.
"For me, the biggest thing is that I don't think the runner's high is shackled to running. I think you can get the high from doing anything you love so much you'll push yourself."
