| Why are some people so good at running? Turns out, there are nearly 20 gene variants that help some people with a key aspect of endurance training — that is, how much their body actually improves from all that distance running. That's the finding of a new study led by Henry Chung, a professor of exercise sciences at the University of Essex. Chung and his team studied 45 British men and women who hadn't recently performed any endurance training. Over eight weeks, about half of the participants kept on living their normal lives. The other half became regular runners, doing three outdoor sessions a week that increased in duration from 20 to 30 minutes. Before and after this training block, Chung tested how far everyone could run in 12 minutes. Unsurprisingly, the first group didn't really improve. Those who trained, however, saw their performance get better by, on average, about 12%. The catch: not everybody enjoyed the same gains. Some only managed to run 2% farther, while others jumped by as much as 20%. The fact that results varied like this probably won't surprise any running coaches, who are accustomed to seeing some athletes fight for every marginal improvement while others seem to transform into future Olympians overnight. That, however, wasn't the point of Chung's research. The team then conducted a genotype analysis of all the runners, screening for some 1,000 different genes. After crunching the data, they determined that 18 gene variants probably played a role in people's improvement. Those who hardly got better had either none or maybe just one of these gene variants. Those who improved by a lot had all of them. These 18 running gene variants have fancy names like MAOA, BDNF or ACTN3, which has long been dubbed the "speed gene" by scientists. In fact, Chung was delighted to see that all 18 of the relevant genetic variants have previously appeared in research associated with fitness attributes. While he's excited about his findings, he's quick to offer words of reassurance to those who find it hard to get faster. For one thing, there are a lot more benefits to running (or similar activities) than a faster 5-K race. Such exercise can also help build stronger bones and improve your mental health, among other things. And while some are blessed with great running genetics, that doesn't mean they'll always outperform people who are more dedicated with their training. "Unless you actually go out and do something, push yourself to that limit, then the gene can't even come into play," Chung says. "It goes back to that saying, 'Hard work beats talent if talent refuses to work hard.'" — Tim Loh | 
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