Biomechanical Characteristics of Running and Running-Related Injuries: A Literature Review

OBJECTIVES This review article aimed to comprehensively examine the biomechanical characteristics of running and their associations with running injuries.METHODS A systematic review was conducted via PubMed and Google Scholar. Search words included “running biomechanics”, “running-related injury”, “ground reaction force”, “vertical loading rate”, “kinematics”, “kinetics”, “gait analysis”, “fatigue”, and “overuse injury”. The search words identified studies investigating relationships between biomechanical variables and running injuries.RESULTS The reviewed evidence indicated that running injuries arise through complex, multifactorial interactions rather than isolated biomechanical abnormalities. Elevated loading rates altered hip and knee kinematics, and fatigue-related biomechanical changes were consistently associated with injury risk across a range of overuse conditions. Nonetheless, considerable heterogeneity across studies precluded definitive conclusions, and no single biomechanical variable reliably predicted injury occurrence across all running populations.CONCLUSIONS Injury development in runners is best understood within an integrative framework that accounts for tissue loading, cumulative training exposure, movement variability, and individual adaptive capacity. Future investigations should prioritize prospective longitudinal designs with standardized biomechanical protocols and pre-defined, consensus-based injury definitions.