Finishing a marathon can spruce up arteries, make them flexible: Study

Complete a first marathon and rejuvenate a major artery. That is the message of an inspiring new study of novice runners and their aortas.

The study finds that training for and finishing a marathon can spruce up arteries, leaving them more flexible, healthy and biologically younger than before, even if runners are older or slow.

But the study also raises some pointed questions about whether a lone marathon is the ideal goal for people hoping to improve their arterial health over the long term.

Inside most of us who are middle-aged or older, arteries are hardening. Our arteries, of course, carry oxygenated blood