High school cross-country runners from across New Jersey are helping SHP researchers learn whether certain factors are predictors of running injuries.

Allison Brown, assistant professor in physical therapy and principal investigator, is working on the study with collaborators Andrew Lynch, associate professor, and Brittany Lynch, adjunct faculty, in the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences. They established the Rutgers RunLab with the mission of investigating running-related injuries with the goal of preventing new injuries and making the sport safer.

The study, which began in the fall of 2022, involves runners wearing shoe-mounted sensors to track their running mechanics. The RunLab aims to use this data to identify changes in running patterns that may indicate a runner is at risk of injury. Statistics show that 15 to 20 percent of runners get injured in the first month of the season.

“There’s just not enough out there on what puts high school runners at risk. We see more and more adolescents starting to run and more are getting involved in marathon and half-marathon distance running. So this is a really important area to consider,” said Brown.

The researchers worked with Next Level Phisio physical therapy facilities to collect baseline data on the high school athletes through pre-season assessments. The athletes also provide weekly surveys on injuries, sleep, and stress, and upload running data from their shoe sensors.

While the second year of the study is ongoing, preliminary findings from the first year suggest that female runners are at a higher risk of injury, and that previous injuries strongly predict new injuries. Sleep also may play a role, with runners who got injured reporting fewer hours of sleep.

Brown and Andrew Lynch will present these initial findings at the upcoming Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association in February.