My love for Mizuno has known no boundaries over the past few years. I’ve purchased them in three different countries (US, England and Switzerland) and I’ve sported multiple styles while training for two marathons, five half marathons and countless other races. While I’m currently rocking both the Sayonaras for treadmill workouts and the Wave Riders for outdoor runs, I’m excited to pick up a new pair when I’m in New York City next week.

So today when I saw both the Twitter and Facebook world spreading the good Mizuno word this morning I had to check out what all the fuss was about. It turns out that Mizuno commissioned a study to show statistically the ways the world and people just like you and me would be affected if everyone ran. Their What If Everybody Ran info graphic left me laughing, smiling and in complete awe. Sometimes I forget that while I run on an almost daily basis and many of my closest friends take to the streets each day, we are a very small group and not the norm. I can’t believe that the study was led by UNC Kenan-Flagler students! My uncle is a professor in their business school so this caused even more excitement as I perused the full study.

Here are some interesting tidbits from the study:

• After running on a treadmill, women performed 20 percent better on memory tests.
• Exercise reduces anger by 83%and increases mood by 37%
• Americans would spend 7 billion more hours outdoors (No wonder they’d be happier!)
• 10% improvement in self esteem (This statistic seems very low.)
• People who exercise during their workday are 23% more productive than those who don’t. (Hooray for lunchtime runs!)
• 200 million inches would be lost from American waistlines!

.

If you want to find out more about that study or the movement, follow #ifeverybodyran hashtag on Twitter or head over to their site!

If you’re a runner, what has changed in your life since you started running? I’m definitely more confident overall!