The runner’s high theory describes the state of euphoria that occurs during long distance running. The Technical University of Munich (Germany) with the help of an imaging study has proved this phenomenon.

The experts already agreed before the scientific proof: Prolonged jogging improves the mood. Endurance sports are synonymous with reducing stress and resolving anxiety. A joint research project of the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Munich (both Germany) proved the theory that endurance running elicits an emotional high. After two hours of jogging, athletes showed an increased release of endorphins in the brain which are the source of the elation experienced. The so-called runner’s high has led to controversial discussions among medical experts that were put to rest by the study headed by Thomas Toelle, MD, (Munich) and Henning Boecker, MD, (Bonn).

For an accurate measurement of the endorphin hypothesis, 10 athletes were examined before and after a 2-hour long-distance run with position emission tomography (PET). The PET scan performed with a Siemens Biograph® PET•CT provided the evidence: The data showed that endorphins were released primarily in the regions of the brain that play a key role in processing emotions. “In addition, we determined significant changes in the euphoric state after an endurance run,” reported a delighted Henning Boecker. But endurance sport does more than reduce stress. As indicated by the results of the study, it also enhances pain tolerance in runners.

Endorphins promote the body’s own pain suppression by affecting the way the body passes on pain and processes it in the nervous system and brain. The increased production of endorphins resulting from endurance running could serve as the body's own pain killer. Further research is required to fully clarify this theory. As Becker adds: "We are now very curious about the results of an imaging study using magnetic resonance tomography which we are currently performing in Bonn to investigate the effects of long-distance running on the processing of pain." At the Technical University of Munich, the relationship between genetic disposition and opiate receptor distribution is being investigated. "It is a scary thought," says Toelle, "that we run because our genes want us to do just that." The first step toward researching these connections has now been made.