Every spring, as people get ready for the marathon season, Accident Compensation Corporation data shows a spike in the number of runners reporting injuries.
Last year, ACC accepted 985 running injuries in August and these increased throughout spring — September (1077), October (1082) and November (1259).
Throughout 2022, ACC accepted 1163 running-related injuries in Otago and Southland, costing $827,000 to help people recover.
Nationwide, 11,726 running-related injury claims were accepted, costing $9.8 million.
Between now and the end of the year, there are 16 marathons around New Zealand, including the Aoraki Mount Cook Marathon (tomorrow), the Southland Festival of Running (Sunday), and the popular Queenstown Marathon on November 18.
ACC has provided advice from former elite-level runner and Kinetics Rehab principal physiotherapist David Cooper, to help runners prevent injuries and make it to the finish line.
He said the best piece of advice he could give runners was to be patient.
"Five to six weeks out, we start seeing runners coming in with injuries because they have left things a little too late and have rushed the training.
"The health research is very clear that a rapid increase in training load causes problems.
"That’s usually where people end up in our consult rooms because of injury.
"So the best advice, with five to six weeks out, be patient and don’t suddenly jump into big training weeks without building up to them gradually."
He said the rough guide was to increase the distance or run duration by 15%-20% per week.
"A common myth is that you have to complete the event distance before race day.
"I don’t buy into that. On the day, the adrenaline, the crowd and the excitement will help to get you through.
"If you don’t have quite enough time to get those final stage longer runs in, don’t get too worried or stressed."
ACC data showed people aged 25-49 made up 52% of all running related injuries last year, and 90% of those injuries were soft tissue injuries, including Achilles tendon problems, kneecap (patella) related pain, iliotibial band issues and hip tendon problems.
Mr Cooper said more serious injuries occurred if the bone was affected, resulting in stress injuries or stress fractures.
"If you want to avoid visiting a physio, then start slow, stay steady and increase training volumes in a gradual way."
