I rather look like Serena Williams.

My god is there a lot of unfocused rage at running here. It's also shockingly ignorant. Distance running has been shown to increase telomere length in more than one study, while sprinting and weight training have not. In fact older people putting in an average of 50 miles / week prevent 75% of normal age-related telomere shortening.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/phys-ed-how-exercising-keeps-your-cells-young/

Nearley all types of professional sports are bad for your body in the long term. Whether a pro sprinter or marathon runner, they are all doing damage to their bodies. Attaining such a peak level of fitness (not health)is done through vigorous and frequent training. Paleo lifestyle is about health and longevity. Not about wearing down your body for "performance" or maximal "fitness". Remember there is a difference between health and fitness, as Dr. Doug McGuff states.

The hate on distance running is getting ridiculous in the paleoworld.

The question wasn't about "running" or "running a marathon". It was about being an ELITE distance runner. Big, big, big difference.

ELITE runners are self-selecting by their genes, not by their desires. If you have the correct body makeup (meaning, you chose the right parents) to be successful as a competitive marathon runner AND you also train like hell, you can do it. If you don't have the body makeup and you still train like hell, you could be what they call "sub-elite" which means you could win local races and the like.

This says NOTHING about damage that may be done or your career's longevity.

All it says is that 99% of folks are not "allowed" to choose to be an elite marathoner. Those of us who like running but failed the light&lean lottery definitely can get wistful when seeing the genetically gifted sail through a race, longevity hindrances or no.

Way before my paleo/primal days, I enjoyed sprinting the most. It's still my favorite. I'm not much on marathoning. A 5K is about the limit of my interest in distance running.

OMG this is complete insanity.

marathon + 99 miles in 29 hours

I have never aspired to be a distance runner. Boring and uncomfortable. Sometimes I run a bit. I bike to get where I need to go (not far).

I will have the OP know that I have the same body type as those marathon runners no matter what (I will say I think I look more filled-out and youthfully pretty than the examples you chose). I have a spindly-armed extra-lean upper body and only gain mass in my hips and legs. I lift heavy, eat primal with tons of calories and about 1g of protein per pound bodyweight, and do very little cardio. I look just like my father.

I would prefer to be a muscular, proportionate person like an elite sprinter, yes. But I always going to be small and thin, the type of body which lends itself very well to distance running since we have so little to carry.

and again we are going into judging people's health based on their looks. Cherry picking is a very poor way to prove anything.

I had a friend who was into rock climbing (as many other of my friends years ago), he was stick-thin, very tall and you wouldn't say he was athletic even. But he could climb very difficult paths and could do pull ups on his middle fingers only.

Looks can be deceptive. Both directions (too skinny, too muscled-up, too fat, too think etc.)

I figure if I can run a 5K without wanting to take a dirt nap that's all the endurance running I'll really need. Now sprints and weightlifting, on the other hand - that's the good stuff as far as I'm concerned.

Anyone here look at Brian MacKenzie. The guy is ripped and does 100 mile ultra-marathons. Granted he doesn't run the mileage others do. He follows Crossfit Endurance. I think there is definitely some more balance with runners.

Also, the Inuit will run 20 to 30 miles with the dog sleds through snow. And they don't look like Vegan sticks. Maybe there's a diet connection. lol

Distance runners are by nature very lean compared to sprinters. You wouldn't want to carry 5 extra pounds in mass for 23 miles, as that would really drag you down. Because my longest distance I ever plan on running would be 10K, I'll take the sprinters body :)

WTF is up with all the hate on runners. I got the Paleo Evolution and he said that running was useless, caused cancer, male pattern baldness, global warming and the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Running is a critical cross training component for almost all sports.

As for the stick figure people you are posting I agree with the person who said you cherry picked the hell out of them. Go to a marathon yousrself and look at the lead group take off. You might see some Skeletors, but most look very strong and fit.

Many sports put requirements on your body that hurt you long term. Do I want to look like a stick? Uh no, but I also don't want to look like a 350 lbs lineman, or a sumo wrestler either.

This paleo endurance runner is all scrawny. He just ran down a 500-ish pound kudu. That obviously isn't functional muscle he's got at all....

I don't aspire to be an elite runner, but I do enjoy running. I have fun running 5Ks with my friends and doing sprint triathlons. I like to push myself to do things that are new to me and challenge my fitness. I don't expect to win any of them. Though I did win 3rd in my age group once, LOL.

I gained weight while training for my first couple 1/2 marathons because I really loved the excuses to eat crap that carb loading gave me.

I've actually found this year that my 5k time has improved now that I'm doing LESS training. I've sped up by a full minute per mile and I attribute that to the fact that my body is not in a constant state of fatigue.

love the cherry picking of pictures in this thread haha. To be fair, look up dean karnazes or david goggins- Ultramarathon runners who are pretty damn ripped. Or look up chris lieto, chris mccormack, chrissie wellington, or mirinda carfrae- some of the top ironman athletes.

Most runners over-train. I think you can be a marathon runner without looking sick. Plenty of evidence that different ancient cultures/tribes ran long distances. But still, I don't think running long distances improve your health AT ALL.

I aspire to find a girl who looks like Kara Goucher, who finished 5th at today's Boston Marathon. As Dr. K hinted at, cherrypicking sometimes only gets the sicklier berries.

marathon elite runner? >>> sorry no thanks.

Look at this YouTube vid of these women 'finishing' a marathon.

so unnecessary. so sad.

Yah you could say we're all cherry picking here to push a point, but you will not see a world class sprinter look like the guy on the left. but you see it all the time in marathon runners.

Here you go Doc. (per your comment request)

As I learn more, I now think of Marathon runners something akin to pro boxers or football players...

on one hand you're an athlete or the other hand...this will take years off your life...