if you are a regular runner, would you say you look older than your age?

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I have heard many people comment that running causes people to look older than they are due to the impact shockwaves and being exposed to the elements outside.

I just wondered if there is any truth in this as I really enjoy running! (but not to detriment of my good looks )

Thanks

I run. I don't look older.
I was reading an article about this recently. Apparently it does happen but only if you are running extreme distances regularly.

I am not a regular runner but know a few. The only person I know who maybe looks a little older than she is runs a lot. She covers a ridiculous distance per week and also has a one year old child and a very serious job, so I don't know if running is the "problem". She is also older than the rest of my friends - she is in her forties and the rest are in their thirties. The ones who run regularly and are in their thirties look great.

I am often told I could pass for 10 years younger, but I always have.

I think it may only be that if you are fit and lean you can sometimes look a little drawn.

There are some superfit running mums at our school, and TBH, some of them look a bit older than they are. I think it might also be because they always look bloody miserable in Lycra as well as a bit undernourished, but I suspect that has less to do with running and more to do with not eating.

However, as a fattie with a relatively young face, I think that it is far better to be a fit runner than someone unfit who is struggling with the C25K.

Trainers are going on tomorrow!

I hope not. I love running and go most days. I make sure I wear plenty of sunscreen whatever the weather. I have lost weight with it so maybe that shows in my face a bit compared with before I started running. It would be good to hear from others too.

The few ladies I know who run very regularly do seem to look a bit older due to sun damage and low body fat, in my opinion.

I wear sunglasses and sunscreen, and I use a treadmill if it's too windy or a heatwave.

And I don't run more than 6 miles - the distance my dog can manage with me.

The runners I know who have that gaunt runner's face do longer distances in all weathers.

I agree with elgar's post - it's the effect of being incredibly slim on older skin. I'd trade it any day for being slightly overweight and unfit!

I read in women's running mag I think it was that because the fresh blood is pumped to the surface of the skin it improves skins appearance making it look plumper. As long as you wear sunscreen I can't see the problem. I think my skin looks better after the beetroot redness has gone down if course !

Most of the runners I know don't look older than they are.... Usually the other way round. I might be a bit biased as I am a runner but I look younger than I am and always have.

I'm a regular runner (3x a week) but am also a fatty, so get the best of all worlds - lovely glowy skin from all the exercise and very few wrinkles/drawn look due to the fat. Of course, my arse in lycra is a travesty, but my face is lovely :)

I think its the mismatched body and face that does it
A committed runner of say sixty will have a lean youthful body but still a sixty year old face, so his or her face may seem old compared to the body

If anything exercise increases circulation and bloody supply which has a beneficial effect on all tissues, but you would have sun induced aging iif you don't use sunscreen

Slim people only look 'undernourished' because the average person is 'overnourished'😘

Totally agree.
The lower face around mouth/ chin and cheeks become sunken in runners over 40. Easy to spot a runner

IMO male runners tend to look worse facially

I've just done my run. I reckon I've knocked about 3 months of my age.

Still fat though, sigh

I'm a regular runner and I think I look younger than I am. I get IDd a fair bit, anyway.
It might be different when I'm in my 60s and I've got 30 more years of running on my face, but I'd still rather be lean and fit than overweight and unfit.

I'm a regular runner and apparently look younger.

People always say slim people look old/haggard/ill etc. I don't think they do. But anyway I'd rather that than being overweight and unfit.

I don't run , but I'd imagine the constant effect of gravity and the jarring of each step (even with good running shoes you cannot elimanate this) would cause all the collagen and ligamentous tissue to stretch.(Worse on road running)
Added to the low body fat and environmental impact you can see where the damage comes from.

constant small impacts (such as you get with running) have a positive effect on bone density, perhaps the same is true with collagen/connective tissues in the skin?

the leaner you are the less lose flesh there is to 'jiggle' when you run

I remember reading a magazine article where they assessed women's lifestyles and how they might age them prematurely. They were criticising a woman for running on the beach every morning as apparently the UV rays are worse by the sea. This plus the running would result in terribly things for the visage of this woman according to this article. Honestly, I wanted to strangle the journalist. Here is someone doing exactly the right thing by getting fresh air and excercise and bloody well enjoying herself and some arsehole has to tear her down for it. Maybe running does make you look a bit older but it doesn't outweigh the health benefits and more importantly the enjoyment of being fit enough to run for miles on a beautiful beach every day. Wear sunscreen, shades, cap etc yes, but how unhelpful to tell this woman she was aging herself. Imagine if that article put her off her daily run on the beach?

I'm not even a runner btw, just having a rant.

I am very active and always have been and have quite an athletic build. I'm nearly 35 and have recently started to think my face looks quite haggered and gaunt. I've been the same weight my whole adult life but now, approaching middle age, I think being a bit plumper would suit me more!

trouble is the fat never goes where it would aesthetically be most beneficial, the older you get the more likely it is to be around the middle :(

Catherine Deneuve apparently said that an older woman has to choose between her face or her ass, in other words a thin body will probably have a thin face. And as you get older a thin face can look gaunt. But FGS does it really matter so much it would stop you doing something you enjoyed that was generally good for you? I'm a runner and love it. I'm 50, quite slim but not underweight and I do notice my face looking more drawn than when I was 30 but what else would I expect?
I do feel quite depressed about the social pressure to prioritise looking young and beautiful over everything else.
I think it is being slim, not running, that gives you a correspondingly slim face which is appropriate for your real age.

Same as the other regular runners on here.
I'm 50 and run around 50 miles a week (outside in all weather) and look around 5 years younger than my age, and a lot younger than most of the much younger and mostly overweight mums at my son's primary school. I think that sunscreen is a must even in winter, but the lines on my face would be there even if I didn't run due to too much time in the sun when young. I'd rather be lean, muscly and fit with a few lines on my face than fat and unfit with a smooth face. Saying that I know a triathlete who I see regularly at my running face events, she is tiny and looks like a wrinkled prune...and she is the same age as me.

Definitely has a detrimental affect on the boobs, especially if you're a C cup plus. I think sunscreen in all weathers is essential and eat more than you would and that should be the perfect balance, in theory, fit and beautiful