每天成千上万的人穿上自己的运动装备、跑到大街上运动，希望在享受户外运动的同时使自己保持健康。但是我们对运动的热爱是不是也在为我们将来埋下健康的隐患呢?

　　这就是诺丁汉大学的研究人员最近开展的一项研究课题所要回答的，这个研究得到目前十分流行的“公园跑”参与者的一点小帮助。

　　在未来的十五年里，成人观测研究中心将对志愿者们进行观察以确定休闲跑是否会增加人们膝盖患关节炎的几率。

　　这项研究在“英国关节周”成立，它的带领人是学校医学院的教授金姆·爱德华兹博士，她说：“研究体育活动与健康的关系的难点就在于缺少具体的数据，特别是跑步，过去很多年里都缺少相关的数据。”

　　“比如说很多人都认为跑步会对膝盖造成损害，但先前的研究表明这并不是关键。这些都是各种调查、研究所需要的。此外，在一个老龄化日益突出的社会里，伴随着肥胖及静态的生活方式，在这方面有一个更深刻的了解对所有人都大有裨益。”

　　休闲跑步已经成为我们最重要的消遣方式之一，“公园跑”组织提供每周5公里的自由跑，这个组织仅在英国就有800,000位成员。

　　成人观测研究中心计划在350个不同地点的公园跑参与者中至少招募到1%的志愿者(8,000名)，并进一步地在澳大利亚招募1,500名志愿者。

　　诺丁汉大学的博士生理查德·利奇就在这个中心工作，如今正在和悉尼大学合作招募澳大利亚的志愿者。

　　他说：“跑步在我们国家很受欢迎。我们就是为了研究长期和短期休闲跑步的效果。我们这样做就是为了看到它的积极意义，特别是它和骨骼健康的关系，这样不同年龄段的人们都可以健康地动起来。”

　　根据协议，工作人员将会跟随志愿者12个月或者3-5年，直到此项活动2030年结束。

　　这个项目除了提供跑步与膝盖健康的关系，它还有希望为我们描述其他生活方式如饮食、日常活动与受伤、患病的关系。

　　Every day, millions of us pull on our trainers and hit the streets in an attempt to get fitter while enjoying the great outdoors. But is our love affair with running storing up health problems for us in the future?

　　That’s the question a new international study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham, as part of the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, is aiming to answer – with a little help from several thousand participants in the increasingly popular weekly parkrun events.

　　Over the next 15 years, the Health of Adults’ Longitudinal Observational (HALO) study, with the approval of the parkrun Research Board, will follow the fortunes of the volunteer participants to assess whether recreational running puts people at greater risk of developing osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee in later life.

　　Leading the study – which is launching during National Arthritis Week - is Dr Kim Edwards, Associate Professor in the University’s School of Medicine. She said: “One difficulty with research about physical activity and health is the lack of detailed data, especially running data, on large samples over many years.

　　“For example, many individuals believe that running will have a detrimental effect on their knees, yet the balance of previous research suggests that this is not necessarily the case. However, these were small investigations and a large study is needed. Additionally, in an ageing society, with increasing obesity and sedentary lifestyles, it is clear that a greater understanding in this area would be beneficial to the overall population.”

　　Recreational running has become one of our most popular pastimes and the parkrun organisation, which provides free weekly 5km running events around the world, has 800,000 members in the UK alone.

　　The HALO study is aiming to recruit at least one per cent of all parkrun participants across the 350 locations in the UK (8,000) and a further 1,500 parkrunners in Australia.

　　University of Nottingham PhD student Richard Leech, who works at the Centre, is currently working with the University of Sydney and is recruiting Australian volunteers for the study.

　　He said: “It is really important that physical activity is encouraged within our society. Our research seeks to identify the short and long-term outcomes associated with recreational running. In doing so we wish to identify the benefits, particularly in relation to musculoskeletal health, so that people of all ages can participate safely.”

　　With agreement, the researchers will then follow up with participants at 12 months and every two to five years subsequently until the end of the study in 2030.

　　It is hoped that in addition to providing evidence on the link between running and knee OA, the study will give us a much clearer picture of how other lifestyle factors such as diet and general physical activity impact on our risk of developing injuries and diseases.