Run for your life! Study says one hour run could equal 7 extra hours of life

Run for your life, literally. Just one hour of running each day could extend a person's life by as much as seven hours, according to a new study.

Iowa State University professor and study co-author Duck-chul Lee and his colleagues analyzed data from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, a non-profit dedicated to health research and education, and other recent large studies on the relationship between exercise and mortality, the New York Times reported.

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The research concluded that running reduced premature deaths by almost 40 percent, and that runners tended to live about three years longer than non-runners, regardless of other health factors, including obesity, drinking and smoking.

For an average run of two hours a week, scientists figured that would equal less than six months of running time over a 40 year period, but they said it could equal a life extension of about three years, returning more time to a person than it consumes, the NYT reported.

Other forms of exercise, like walking and biking, are also beneficial, the study found, but running seems to have the greatest impact.

The research was published in March in the journal "Progress in Cardiovascular Disease."

Cox Media Group