One of the most powerful health interventions might be simpler than we think

Adrian Gore, Founder and Chief Executive of Discovery Group

On World Running Day, it’s worth reflecting on something impressively simple: one of the most effective ways to improve health outcomes, extend healthy lifespan and strengthen mental wellbeing requires remarkably little: a pair of running shoes, a road or park, and the willingness to begin.

What I’ve always loved about running is its accessibility. Unlike many sports, the barrier to entry is low. You don’t need expensive equipment, specialised facilities or a team around you. Running belongs equally to the elite athlete and to someone taking their very first walk-run around the block. And yet, despite its simplicity, running has an extraordinary capacity to transform health.

The data on physical activity and health outcomes is now incredibly robust. Regular physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, depression and several cancers, while also improving sleep, cognition and resilience. The impact is not just theoretical: a Vitality analysis of more than 500,000 participants over five years found that those aged 45 to 65 who moved from no exercise to moderate or high levels saw a 38% and 58% reduction in mortality risk respectively. For those aged 65 and over, the effect was even more pronounced, with reductions of 52% to 59%. Importantly, physical activity doesn’t only extend lifespan, it extends healthspan: the number of years we live in good health.

This principle sits at the heart of Vitality’s Shared-Value Model. For decades, we’ve explored how behavioural science, incentives and data can help people make healthier choices more consistently. Across millions of members globally, one insight stands out repeatedly: sustained physical activity changes lives.

You can choose any physical activity that you enjoy and that is sustainable. I personally love running because it’s so accessible – I can do it anywhere, even when travelling – and it helps me clear my head. I find the rhythm of it particularly meditative. While a single run or workout doesn’t transform your health, the discipline of running or exercising regularly, week after week, year after year, fundamentally alters long-term trajectories. In many ways, this mirrors how meaningful change occurs in business and in life generally. There are rarely shortcuts and progress comes through consistency.

What does this mean practically? First and foremost, I’d encourage you to set a goal, however small. We know from the theory of loss aversion that we are more motivated by a potential loss than a potential gain. And setting a public goal activates this motivating power by putting something at stake – creating something to lose. Goals are more than just wishful thinking – they are profound behavioural drivers.

I was reminded of this personally over the past few years.

At the end of 2022, I embarked on what I called the “Strive for Five” challenge – an attempt to run a five-minute mile. While I ultimately fell short because of an injury, this experience reinforced the above insight: ambitious goals expand your perceived limits, even if you don’t fully achieve them. Goals create momentum and force adaptation.

That challenge eventually led me somewhere unexpected: back to the marathon.

Last year, I completed the London Marathon, my first marathon in two decades. This year, I ran the Boston Marathon. Both experiences were deeply meaningful: physically demanding, mentally consuming and profoundly energising.

What struck me most wasn’t only the races themselves, but the preparation behind them. Marathon training is fundamentally about consistency: early mornings, repetition, gradual adaptation. Here I want to add something to my goal-setting suggestion – break your goal down into manageable steps and do these consistently. In this way, you access another behavioural force, that of habit formation. We found in our Habit Index study that it only takes 7 to 15 weeks to form a habit and that once formed, strong positive habits are impressively durable. Use techniques like habit laddering to slowly increase the intensity or length of your exercise, which is shown to be more effective in building longer-lasting habits that increase your lifespan and healthspan.

That’s an important lesson for our global health systems too. We often search for dramatic interventions while underestimating the power of small, repeatable behaviours. The reality is that long-term health is largely shaped by habits: how much we move, sleep, eat and recover over time.

Simply put, you do not need to run a marathon to begin feeling better and healthier. A short jog, a brisk walk or simply becoming more active consistently can materially improve health outcomes.

So, on World Running Day, I’m reflecting less on elite performance and more on the fact that movement itself is one of the most democratic forms of preventive health available to us. Setting goals and then making small choices consistently can powerfully shape the trajectory of individual – and global – health.