Racing toward health? Exploring the public health potential of community-based road races

background: Most women fail to meet national physical activity (PA) recommendations putting them at increased risk of chronic ill-health yet female participation in community-based 5ks has increased.  With reimbursement for races available through the worksite wellness provision of the Affordable Care Act, exploring the efficacy of community-based 5ks as an intervention strategy to increase PA is warranted.

methods: This study quantifies the proportion of highly active participants in a community-based 5k and explores measured and self-reported PA during race preparation between novice, defined as less than six months of prior PA, and veteran exercisers.  Validated self-report surveys (N=437) and pedometer-recorded step counts (N=50) were collected in the month prior to the race; PA level (high ≥ 3000 MET/wk; moderate <3000 ≥600 MET/wk; low <600 MET/wk) was compared between groups.

results:  Increased PA in training was reported by 49.8% of women (N=218) including more veterans than novices (51.4% vs 43.8%, p=0.20) yet most women (62.4%, N=274) were only moderately active in training.  High PA was achieved by 28.4% (N=124) of all women.  Novices were significantly less likely to be highly active (12.4% vs 32.5%, p<0.001) but trained in response to physician recommendation (50.6% vs 26.7%, p<0.001) more often than did veteran exercisers.

conclusion: Novice and veteran participants differed in health indicators and pre-event PA.  Despite lower PA, participation was a stimulus for increased PA, particularly in response to physician recommendations. Continued study assessing changes in post-event PA to evaluate the sustained impact on the health habits of women is recommended.