New Magazine Targets Runners Plagued by Injury

If you run, sooner or later you'll probably get hurt. Whether it's shinsplints or runner's knee, injuries come with the territory. 

For most of us these conditions are transient—they come, they go, we move on. For others, however, "hurt" seems to be a default setting. Injuries come, then go, then return. Again and again.

Now comes a rare piece of good news for this beleaguered bunch: Soon they'll have their very own magazine. 

Chronically Injured Runner, a monthly publication for the habitually hurt, debuts in May.

"Welcome to the first magazine by, and for, injured runners," the magazine's editor in chief, Hans Andersen, writes in the premier issue. "As a chronically injured runner myself, I know all too well the challenges and frustrations you're dealing with, and I intend to use this empathy to inform each and every page of this magazine." 

"At Chronically Injured Runner," he says, "we feel your pain."

The inaugural issue looks a lot like a traditional running magazine, but with subtle twists.

A Spring Footwear Guide rates and reviews not running shoes, but braces, air casts, and "walking boots" designed for injury rehab. The magazine's Fuel section includes "couch-friendly snacks that will fill you up without filling you out." A feature article recounts the author's first ever Boston Marathon—which she watched from the sidelines while nursing a torn hamstring.

A recurring column, authored by a different injured runner each month, is titled, simply, "This Sucks."

Advertisers include Advil, Birds Eye Brand Frozen Peas, and the American Council of Physical Therapists.

"We're excited," Andersen told Dumb Runner via email. "There is such a demand for this magazine, and we look forward to filling it."

"See you on the roads!" he wrote. "Or not."