A new documentary, Running for Their Lives, delves into whether top female athletes are training too hard, eating too little, and risking their lives just to compete.
Melvin Robert of “Extra” interviewed Olympian and middle-distance runner Colleen Quigley to document the injuries and detrimental effects women runners face.
Quigley is a world record holder in the 4x1500m relay and finished eighth in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But lately, she says, her relationship with running has changed.
“I’ve changed a lot in the last few years, mostly because of my injury experience… ever since I turned pro,” she said.
In this document, the world’s top female runners reveal how rigorous training and dieting led to menstrual irregularities, fatal health problems, and more.
Melvin asked, “Why do you think it took so long to get this information out to people?”
“I think a lot of it has to do with research … our bodies are just different and it’s much more complicated to study women because of the menstrual cycle … then we are just ignored,” Colleen explained.
Learn more about https://running4theirlives.com/.