For decades, endurance running has been held up as a blueprint for physical and mental resilience, a simple prescription: the more you run, the better you’ll feel.
But a new academic study out of Trinity College Dublin may crack that narrative wide open, revealing that in the upper echelons of marathon participation, among runners logging hundreds of 42.2km efforts, mental health isn’t always following pace.
What happens when running becomes a lifestyle, an identity, and, for some, a compulsion? What happens when movement is no longer escape, but burden?
A groundbreaking study published in Acta Psychologica has set out to answer these questions. Drawing from a global cohort of 576 multi-marathoners, individuals who’ve completed an average of 146 marathons, researchers assessed levels of depression and anxiety and compared them with data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).
What they found was neither a moral panic nor a validation of long-held myths. It was something more complicated, and perhaps more urgent, a community of athletes quietly carrying psychological strain beneath their bib numbers.
Multi-Marathoning and the Myth of Mental Immunity
It’s tempting to assume that runners who have completed dozens, even hundreds, of marathons are paragons of psychological health.
After all, the benefits of exercise for mood and brain function are well documented. But this study shows that the assumption doesn’t hold when the sample shifts from recreational runners to serial marathoners.
Across nearly all demographic groups, multi-marathoners had higher average scores for depression and anxiety than the general population. While those averages often remained below clinical thresholds, they were still significantly elevated compared to age- and gender-matched controls.
Running long distances regularly may build resilience for some, but may increase vulnerability in others, said lead author Leo Lundy, a PhD researcher and veteran of more than 400 marathons.
A Small but Serious Subgroup
The most sobering figure in the study? 8% of surveyed runners fell into a category labeled ‘Severe Depression & High Anxiety’, exceeding clinical cut-offs on both validated mental health scales. For a cohort that views itself, and is often viewed, as physically and psychologically exceptional, this high-risk group deserves serious attention.
This subgroup, on average, had run more marathons than any other in the study. Though the study wasn’t designed to assess causality, the correlation between extreme marathon volume and elevated symptoms raises difficult questions.
Does repeated racing mask, or even worsen, underlying mental health issues?
Is running being used more as escape than enjoyment?
The study doesn’t claim to answer these outright, but it strongly suggests that high-frequency marathon running is no safeguard against mental illness.
Mental Health as a Spectrum, What the Averages Don’t Show
Using Latent Class Analysis, the researchers identified four psychological profiles among runners:
- Minimal Depression & Low Anxiety (33%)
- Subclinical Symptoms (41%)
- Moderate Depression & Anxiety (18%)
- Severe Depression & High Anxiety (8%)
These profiles revealed that while a third of runners appeared to thrive emotionally, nearly two-thirds experienced some level of psychological distress. That level of variability would be invisible in a surface-level analysis of group averages.
Age, Gender, and the Culture of Toughness
Older male runners showed significantly lower anxiety, aligning with research that emotional reactivity tends to decline with age. But gender differences emerged elsewhere. Female runners reported significantly higher depression scores than men, a trend mirrored in the general population.
And here lies an uncomfortable truth. Endurance sport tends to celebrate stoicism and self-sacrifice. For many, acknowledging mental struggle feels like breaking an unspoken rule.
The body and mind are under constant strain, and for some runners, the habit becomes more of a coping mechanism than a joy, Lundy explained. That is where burnout and anxiety can creep in.
When Running Is the Stressor, Not the Solution
While running is often embraced as therapy, this study forces a reframe. The data supports what many runners whisper but rarely say out loud. Running can sometimes be the cause of psychological strain, not the cure.
The study did not assess exercise addiction directly, but noted that the highest-symptom group had the highest average marathon count. That finding, combined with patterns of anxiety and burnout, suggests that in some cases, the act of racing frequently may tip from structured routine into compulsion.
The Identity Trap, When the Runner is the Only Self That Matters
What happens when the act of running, and the identity of “runner,” becomes all-consuming?
For those logging dozens of marathons a year, race calendars may replace relationships. Self-worth can become anchored to finish lines and training logs. When injury, age, or burnout interrupt that narrative, a psychological vacuum can emerge.
And yet this scenario is rarely discussed in running communities that prize consistency and commitment above all else.
Rethinking What ‘Healthy’ Looks Like in Endurance Sport
The study’s authors advocate for a shift in the running culture:
- Mental health screenings like CESD-8 and STAI-S-6 should be used proactively
- Clubs should normalize conversations about emotional well-being, not just pacing charts
- Recovery, joy, and psychological balance should be valued as much as performance metrics
There’s an opportunity here to redefine resilience, not as suppressing discomfort, but acknowledging it and seeking help when needed.
Now, this study doesn’t criticize running. It illuminates the complexity of what happens when running becomes more than just movement. When it becomes identity, pressure, and an emotional escape hatch.
The message isn’t “don’t run marathons.” It’s:
Run with awareness, not avoidance. Use running to grow, not to hide.
Because even among the fittest, finish lines do not guarantee peace of mind.
