For example, it may only take one runner a half mile to achieve this feeling while it may take another runner a full marathon – even if they are running the same speed. It all depends on the individual. You should also note that you may not experience the “high” every time, adding to the ambiguity of the feeling that science has struggled with.
A few years ago, science made strides in determining what this so called “runner’s high” actually was. In Germany, researchers have determined that “runner’s high” does in fact exist. The hypothesis they tested was if endorphins – the brain’s naturally occurring opiates – change an athlete’s mood. Dr. Boecker, creator of the study, recruited 10 long-distance runners for a two hour run.
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Before the run, the participants had a PET scan and standard psychological test before running, and after the run they had yet another PET scan and took another psychological test. The data showed that, indeed, endorphins were produced during running and were attaching themselves to areas of the brain associated with emotions, in particular the limbic and prefrontal areas.
According to Dr. Boecker, “The limbic and prefrontal areas are activated when people are involved in romantic love affairs or when you hear music that gives you a chill of euphoria, like Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The greater the euphoria the runners reported, the more endorphins in their brain. Some people have these really extreme experiences with very long or intensive training. That was also what happened to the study subjects. You could really see the difference after two hours of running. You could see it in their faces.” He added, “There are studies that showed enhanced pain tolerance in runners. You have to give higher pain stimuli before they say, ‘O.K., this hurts.’ ”
But that study was a few years ago.