Run For Sarah : Great Scottish Run 4th Sept 2011

If you don't know Glasgow and you're aspiring towards your 1^st half marathon. Then you could do a lot worse than plan for the Great Scottish Run. The start at George Square, in the very heart of town, is turned over to a sea of runners – all shapes and abilities – some who have no intention of even running but who will jog/walk as they fundraise. It's down to earth, it's accessible and you should do it. You get to run on a bit of the M8 before turning into Pollock Park and ending up in the park at Glasgow Green.
I've missed this race for a few years now and was inspired by Sarah to push back to the half marathon distance. The course is fairly flat and good PB potential – but alas not for me. I'm more sprint-triathlon orientated just now and have just been extending the Sunday long run to hopefully cover the distance. I think it will hurt !

Sarah and Alec

Sarah chose the Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke Association (NICHS) as her charity for this race and I am proud to represent her at the event. I so hope I don't let her down. Northern Ireland (NI), like Scotland, has a terrible reputation for coronary health and poor diet – perhaps NI didn't actually invent the deep fried Mars bar – but it's got a similar “chips with everything” fondness for the deep-fat fryer. As a son of the Province I have this tendency "in spades". I think the chances of hearing “no chips please I'll take the streamed kale” is in the realms of lottery-winning likelihood. Lets review the stats provided by NICHS:

• Stroke is Northern Ireland's third most numerous cause of death and the greatest single cause of disability. In the UK 67,000 die annually from Stroke.
  
• Annually there are 2,300 emergency admissions to hospital due to Strokes. 300,000 people in the UK are living with a disability caused by a Stroke.
  
• In 2008 there were 2,096 deaths in Northern Ireland due to respiratory illness.
  
• An estimated 150,000 people suffer from respiratory illnesses, resulting in 28,000 hospital admissions a year and costing £47 million.
  
• Respiratory disease is the fourth biggest killer in Northern Ireland and includes any disease which affects the lungs, such as chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma and lung cancer. Many people live a long time with chronic respiratory illness.
  

According to NICHS it seems that Northern Ireland (having once led the UK in terms of the number of stroke units/population) is now lagging in terms of provision. The final report of the National Sentinel Stroke Audit shows that only half of patients spend 90% of their time in a stroke unit. As far back as 2006, six out of ten patients had this level of access to such specialised treatment. While brain scanning within 24 hours has increased from 40% in 2006 to 57%, Northern Ireland still lags well behind England, which achieves 71% - This is crucial in determining the kind of stroke the person has suffered. NICHS are campaigning to reduce the effects of respiratory illness in Northern Ireland and support those who suffer from it as follows …

• NICHS aims to change Government and Health Service policy for the better, to improve the lives of people suffering from chest, heart and stroke illnesses.
  
• They speak out on behalf of all those who rely on our services, persuading and applying whatever pressure we can. This has resulted in - among other things - healthier school meals and shorter surgical waiting lists.
  
• They are also members of the Long Term Conditions Alliance Northern Ireland, an umbrella body that works to improve the well-being of people with chronic conditions.
  
• They operate an extensive network of support groups in every area of Northern Ireland for people affected by stroke, cardiac illnesses and chest conditions.
  
• NICHS invests for the future by funding ground-breaking research at our hospitals and universities. All the research we support is local, and benefits local people.

There is indeed some ground-breaking R&D being supported by NICHS :

“ Researchers in Belfast are investigating a ground breaking new technique to help stroke survivors regain the use of disabled limbs. Previous studies have indicated that the brain has the capacity to "rewire" itself to cope with damage. Now, psychologists at Queen's University are hoping to show that non-invasive stimulation of the brain, coupled with contractions of the muscles of the unimpaired arm, will assist the recovery of movement in the affected limb.

The project has the potential to transform the recovery of stroke survivors and others who have suffered brain damage. The research, led by Professor Richard Carson, has been funded to the tune of £45,000 by Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke. Prof Carson said: "Although the areas of the brain damaged by stroke cannot recover in the same way that skin can heal itself, other parts of the brain may be able to make up for the lost capacity. This process can be accelerated by painless, non-invasive stimulation that uses magnetic impulses applied over the scalp. We believe that this brain stimulation can be enhanced by simultaneous use of the muscles in the unaffected arm and that it could transform the recovery of the 50% of stroke survivors who are left with disability in one arm."

"Team Dylan" Running For Sarah

I think the NICHS approach is deeply impressive and holistic. Amazingly dedicated staff who are involved in life-changing provision of equipment, educational support, changing the mind-set of decision makers, befriending patients, educating a whole population to enable rapid diagnosis of stroke – and even suporting

Sarah has encouraged me to run for NICHS and in doing so she has probably assisted in my own risk of stroke being reduced. Researchers in McMaster Univerity (Ontario, Canada) found compelling evidence for 10 risk factors that are associated with 90% of the risk of having a stroke.

This is summarized here. The top 5 factors actually accounted for approx 80% of stroke risk. 

• High Blood Pressure
• Smoking
• A Fat Stomach
• Poor Diet
• lack of Excercize

The “lifestyle” of the runner or triathlete would seem to immediately reduce at least 3 of these risk factors and I think triathlete or marathoner smokers are few and far between - which nails a 4th. Let's think about that a little further. Steve Walker (son of Glen) in his outstanding podcast Phedippediations 245 (here) summarized the very special and persuasive work of Stanford researchers (here) who undertook a 21 year longitudinal survey of recreational runners from California. The study followed the runners from a mean age of 59 years to an age of 78 years in 2005. When they were compared to a control group there were some astonishing findings:

• mean disability levels were lower in the runners
• the progress of disability in the runners was lower

You really should listen to Steve's podcast to get the full story but for this blogpost the important point was that Cardiovascular-related deaths were significantly reduced in the running group compared to the control. Aerobic training improves cardio-vascular fitness - and it seems it extends the duration of life and the quality of life. Other studies cited in the same paper have previously pointed to reduced incidence of dementia and several cancer types among groups of regular excercizers compared to controls. Lets look at what data Age-NI published concerning the activity patterns of Northern Ireland people aged 55 or over :

Courtesy of Age-NI : Aging Well

So an alarming 43% of the 65+ age group are "sedentary" while at best 73% of 55 year olds are doing too little exercize. What a challenge to the leisure / fitness community ! There is an urgent and compelling need to raise your game - there need to be products and opportunities to enable this demographic to get activity into their lives. If you manage a leisure centre or are personal trainer - this means YOU need to think outside the box and connect. Bevan James Eyles (multi-time New Zealand Fitness Professional of the Year) is quoted as saying "The fitness industry is losing the war".
The context here is also alarming through age-related demographic change. Check this out...

Increase of 50, 60 and 70 year olds in Northern Ireland : 2010-2050 

Which means ....

• by 2030 there will be 770,00 people in Northern Ireland aged 50 or over
• 34% of the population by 2030 will be over 60 !

An aging population that is more sedentary is bad news both for the people themselves and the tax payer. In all this we have been considering physical health and not even touched on the "quality of life" improvments an active lifestyle can bring. So what NICHS are leading today will be ever more important as Northern Ireland ages in the decades ahead. Simply put we need more education and more initiatives on the value of aerobic exercise (I'd start with triathlon - obviously). Here's specifically what Chakravarty et al. (2008) concluded ...

"Our findings of decreased disability in addition to prolonged survival among middle-aged and older adults participating in routine physical activities further support recommendations to encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity at all ages. Increasing healthy lifestyle behaviours may not only improve length and quality of life but also hopefully lead to reduced health care expenditures associated with disability and chronic diseases."

and that's backed up with what Age-NI had to say :

The link we're making next week by undertaking the Great Scottish Run and fundraising for NICHS is a perfect combination. For the good of half a million people in Northern Ireland I hope those responsible for policy and fitness in Northern Ireland follow Sarah's example. I am endebted to those who are supporting this at a Scottish Sea Farms corporate level or by personally donating at JustGiving.Com/DareToTriLife (here). A "heart-felt" thank you to all.

So what are you getting for the cash ? Well today seemed to the 1st day of Autumn and while it might be August somewhere it seems it's seems, to be October in Argyll. Beware those Men in Tights !   So it's the last long run -managed 22k through the forest trails today - I think a little slower than last week - see what you think (Click on view details and you can re-run the whole route).