Cannabis Made Running Feel Better for Regular Users, But Not Faster
For some regular cannabis users, running after consuming cannabis may feel more enjoyable and euphoric—but that does not mean the drug improves performance. A 2023 study published in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research compared runners’ experiences after using legal-market cannabis with their experiences during runs without it.
The University of Colorado Boulder researchers studied 49 cannabis users between ages 21 and 49 in a within-subjects crossover study. Each participant completed both a cannabis run and a non-cannabis run in a naturalistic setting, allowing the researchers to compare the same people under the two conditions.
Participants reported less negative emotion and greater positive emotion, tranquility, enjoyment and dissociation during their cannabis runs. They also reported more symptoms associated with a “runner’s high”—the euphoria and altered sense of time or body that some people experience during prolonged exercise. Pain ratings were lower after the cannabis runs, while perceived exertion did not differ significantly between the two types of runs.
The results did not show a performance benefit. Runners covered an average of 3.88 miles and ran about 31 seconds per mile slower after using cannabis, although the difference was not statistically significant. The finding therefore does not establish that cannabis improves speed, endurance or athletic performance.
The study also cannot show that cannabis caused the more positive experiences. Participants chose to use cannabis in a real-world setting, and the study did not use a placebo or randomly assign people to consume cannabis. The sample was relatively small and was predominantly male and non-Hispanic White, so the results may not apply to non-users, competitive athletes or broader populations.
Earlier research from the same group found an association between cannabis use and exercise habits. In a 2019 survey of 605 cannabis users in states with legal markets, 81.7 percent reported using cannabis shortly before or after exercise. Those participants also reported more weekly aerobic and anaerobic exercise than users who did not combine cannabis with exercise. Because the survey relied on self-reports and did not include a non-user comparison group, it could not determine whether cannabis increased exercise participation.
There are also potential safety concerns. Cannabis can affect attention, reaction time, decision-making and coordination, and it may temporarily increase heart rate and blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s overview of cannabis health effects. Those effects could be especially relevant during activities requiring balance, rapid reactions or intense cardiovascular effort.
Overall, the Boulder study suggests that acute cannabis use may make running feel more pleasurable for people who already use cannabis, while offering no evidence that it makes them run faster or work out more effectively. Larger, placebo-controlled studies involving different types of exercise and more diverse participants are needed before researchers can assess the potential benefits and risks of combining cannabis with physical activity.
