Run like a woman: the biomechanics of female runners

Women’s participation in running events has increased drastically. In particular, more women have participated in running races in the U.S. between the mid-2000s and 2016 than men. With an increase in overall participation, particularly with the participation of women in race events, more research is needed to compare injury rates and incidences, types of injuries, injury mechanisms, and location of injuries between women and men. However only a small portion of currently available studies have compared sex differences in injury risks. The studies described here and the evidence presented during this symposium suggest that the sex-based differences in running biomechanics warrant further exploration with respect to injury risk.