Injuries of runners reduce the ability to train and hinder competing. Literature shows that the relation between potential risk factors and injuries are not definitive, limited, and inconsistent. In team sports, workload derivatives were identified as risk factors. However, there is an absence of literature in running on workload derivatives. This study used the workload derivatives acute workload, chronic workload, and acute: chronic workload ratios to investigate the relation between workload and injury risk in running. Twenty-three competitive runners kept a daily training log for 24 months. The runners reported training duration, training intensity and injuries. One-week (acute) and 4-week (chronic) workloads were calculated as the average of training duration multiplied by training intensity. The acute:chronic workload ratio was determined dividing the acute and chronic workloads. Results show that a fortnightly low increase of the acute:chronic workload ratio (0.10-0.78) led to an increased risk of sustaining an injury (p<0.001). Besides, a low increase of the acute:chronic workload ratio (0.05-0.62) between the second week and third week before an injury showed an association with increased injury risk (p=0.013). These findings demonstrate that the acute:chronic workload ratio relates to injury risk.
This study aims to help professionals in the field of running and running-related technology (i.e., sports watches and smartphone applications) to address the needs of runners. It investigates the various runner types—in terms of their attitudes, interests, and opinions (AIOs) with regard to running—and studies how they differ in the technology they use. Data used in this study were drawn from the standardized online Eindhoven Running Survey 2016 (ERS2016). In total, 3723 participants completed the questionnaire. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to identify the different running types, and crosstabs obtained insights into the use of technology between different typologies. Based on the AIOs, four distinct runner types were identified: casual individual, social competitive, individual competitive, and devoted runners. Subsequently, we related the types to their use of sports watches and apps. Our results show a difference in the kinds of technology used by different runner types. Differentiation between types of runners can be useful for health professionals, policymakers involved in public health, engineers, and trainers or coaches to adapt their services to specific segments, in order to make use of the full potential of running-related systems to support runners to stay active and injury-free and contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Runners often sustain lower extremity injuries (19-79%) (van Gent et al, 2007). In a theoretical model it has been described that a disturbance in perceived stress and recovery can increase the risk of sustaining an injury (Williams & Andersen, 1998). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate changes in perceived stress and recovery preceding an injury of competitive runners.Methods: Twenty-four competitive runners were monitored over one full training season (46 weeks). Every week, the runners filled an on-line RESTQ-sport (Nederhof et al, 2008). Furthermore, runners and their coaches kept a log with injuries and physical complaints. A non-traumatic injury was defined as any pain, soreness or injury that was not caused by trauma and resulted from training and led to a decrease in training duration or training intensity for at least one week (Jacobsson et al, 2013). Because baseline levels of perception of stress and recovery vary largely between runners, the 19 scales of the RESTQ-Sport were normalized to Z-scores based on the runner’s individual average and standard deviation of the whole season (excl. injured periods). The normalized scores of 1, 2 and 3 weeks before the first sustained injury were compared to 0, which is the average normalized score, by repeated measures ANOVA’s.Results: Twenty-two runners sustained a non-traumatic lower extremity injury. Eight of these runners filled out the RESTQ-Sport all 3 weeks preceding the injury and their data was used for further analysis. The injuries sustained were non-traumatic injuries of the knee, Achilles tendon, ankle, foot and shin. It was shown that 1 week preceding the injury, runners scored lower than the average normalized score on “Success” (Z-score: -0.68±0.62) and 2 weeks preceding the injury runners scored higher than their average on “Fitness/Injuries” (Z-score: 1.04±1.12).Discussion: A decrease in perceived success may be a marker to predict a non-traumatic lower extremity injury. Also an increase in the perception of muscle ache, soreness, pain and vulnerability to injury (“Fitness/Injury”) preceded injuries. Thereby, monitoring changes in individual stress and recovery may help to prevent non-traumatic injuries.
TOURBAN objective is to spearhead a transnational and cross-sectoral movement towards tourism sustainability in urban areas across Europe, leveraging SME capacities and skills to uptake best practices and develop innovative solutions that make them both more sustainable and competitive. It will do so by tackling current urban tourism challenges in an era of increasing tourism visitor pressure, acting in European cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Kiel, Budapest and Tallinn. To achieve the objective, TOURBAN will share knowledge on sustainability strategies and the advantages of adopting sustainable solutions and practices, including EU/internationally recognised certificates and labels (e.g. EU Eco Label, EMAS) and circular economy models. These will be based on case studies and stories from SMEs and other frontrunners in sustainability.The project will share this practical knowledge through highly interactive training workshops and peer-to-peer sessions. Another core element of the project is cross-sector knowledge exchange and collaboration. In addition, more intensive support services will be delivered so that the tourism SMEs can effectively adopt sustainability strategies and seek additional financing. In this, financial support will be provided on the basis of a selection process under a competitive Call for Proposals launched by the Sustainable Urban Tourism Acceleration Programme. In this action, TOURBAN will engage around 70 SMEs from 7 different countries (NL, ES, DK, HR, DE, HU and EE) in a 12-month programme. To drive successful outcomes, the partnership gathers expertise in a wide range of topics related to tourism sustainability and can draw on years of practical experience in incubation, acceleration and SME developmentPartners:Breda University of Applied Sciences (Breda - The Netherlands), Barcelona Chamber of Commerce (Barcelona - Spain), B. Link Barcelona Strategic Projects (Barcelona - Spain), The Institute for Tourism Research in Northern Europe (Kiel - Germany), Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Tallinn - Estonia), City of Dubrovnik Development Agency (Dubrovnik - Croatia), Creative Business Network (Copenhagen - Denmark), VIMOSZ Hungarian Hospitality Employers’ Association (Budapest - Hungary).
