Hannah Margaret Rice

• Werkhausen, Amelie; Lund-Hansen, Magne; Wiedenbruch, Lucas; Peikenkamp, Klaus & Rice, Hannah (2024). Technologically advanced running shoes reduce oxygen cost and cumulative tibial loading per kilometer in recreational female and male runners. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 14(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62263-0.
• Riga, Alessandro; Profico, Antonio; Mori, Tommaso; Frittitta, Riccardo; Nava, Alessia & Mancini, Lucia [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2024). The Middle Pleistocene human metatarsal from Sedia del Diavolo (Rome, Italy). Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322. 14(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-55045-1.
• Rice, Hannah; Mai, Patrick; Sanno, Maximilian & Willwacher, Steffen (2024). Tibial loading and damage accumulation in recreational and competitive male runners during a demanding 10 km run. European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. 24(1), p. 79–87. doi: 10.1002/ejsc.12040.
• Rice, Hannah; Seynnes, Olivier R. & Werkhausen, Amelie (2023). Effect of increased running speed and weight carriage on peak and cumulative tibial loading. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 0905-7188. doi: 10.1111/sms.14476. Show summary

  Introduction: Tibial stress injuries are a burdensome injury among military recruits. Military activities include running and the carriage of additional weight, and this may be related to the high risk of bone stress injuries. The aim of this study was to quantify tibial loading when running at two different speeds, with and without additional weight, and to quantify their combined influence. Methods: Fourteen male distance runners who ran at least 40 km per week ran barefoot on a force-instrumented treadmill in four conditions representing preferred running speed (mean (SD) 3.1 (0.3) m/s) and 20% increased running speed (3.8 (0.4) m/s), with and without 20% of body weight carried in a weight vest. Kinematics and kinetics were synchronously collected. Bending moments were estimated about the medial-lateral axis of the tibial centroid located 1/3rd of the length from distal to proximal. Static equilibrium was ensured at each 1% of stance. Peak bending moments were obtained in addition to cumulative-weighted loading, where weighted loading accounted for the relative importance of the magnitude of the bending moment and the quantity of loading using a bone-dependent weighting factor. Results: There were no interaction effects for running speed and weight carriage on peak or cumulative tibial loading. Running at a 20% faster speed increased peak and cumulative loading per kilometer by 8.0% (p < 0.001) and 4.8% (p < 0.001), respectively. Carriage of an additional 20% of body weight increased peak and cumulative loading per kilometer by 6.6% (p < 0.001) and 8.5% (p < 0.001), respectively. Interpretation: Increasing the physical demand of running by increasing speed or weight carriage increased peak tibial loading and cumulative tibial loading per kilometer, and this may increase the risk of tibial stress injury. Running speed and weight carriage independently influenced tibial loading.

• Rice, Hannah; Kurz, Markus; Mai, Patrick; Robertz, Leon; Bill, Kevin & Derrick, Timothy R. [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). Speed and surface steepness affect internal tibial loading during running. Journal of Sport and Health Science. ISSN 2095-2546. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2023.03.004. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background: Internal tibial loading is influenced by modifiable factors with implications for the risk of stress injury. Runners encounter varied surface steepness (gradients) when running outdoors and may adapt their speed according to the gradient. This study aimed to quantify tibial bending moments and stress at the anterior and posterior peripheries when running at different speeds on surfaces of different gradients. Methods: Twenty recreational runners ran on a treadmill at 3 different speeds (2.5 m/s, 3.0 m/s, and 3.5 m/s) and gradients (level: 0%; uphill: +5%, +10%, and +15%; downhill: –5%, –10%, and –15%). Force and marker data were collected synchronously throughout. Bending moments were estimated at the distal third centroid of the tibia about the medial–lateral axis by ensuring static equilibrium at each 1% of stance. Stress was derived from bending moments at the anterior and posterior peripheries by modeling the tibia as a hollow ellipse. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance were conducted using both functional and discrete statistical analyses. Results: There were significant main effects for running speed and gradient on peak bending moments and peak anterior and posterior stress. Higher running speeds resulted in greater tibial loading. Running uphill at +10% and +15% resulted in greater tibial loading than level running. Running downhill at –10% and –15% resulted in reduced tibial loading compared to level running. There was no difference between +5% or –5% and level running. Conclusion: Running at faster speeds and uphill on gradients ≥+10% increased internal tibial loading, whereas slower running and downhill running on gradients ≥–10% reduced internal loading. Adapting running speed according to the gradient could be a protective mechanism, providing runners with a strategy to minimize the risk of tibial stress injuries.

• Jones, Andrew M.; Kirby, Brett S.; Clark, Ida E.; Rice, Hannah; Fulkerson, Elizabeth & Wylie, Lee [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2021). Physiological demands of running at 2-hour marathon race pace. Journal of applied physiology. ISSN 8750-7587. 130(2), p. 369–379. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00647.2020. Show summary

  The requirements of running a 2-h marathon have been extensively debated but the actual physiological demands of running at ∼21.1 km/h have never been reported. We therefore conducted laboratory-based physiological evaluations and measured running economy (O2 cost) while running outdoors at ∼21.1 km/h, in world-class distance runners as part of Nike’s “Breaking 2” marathon project. On separate days, 16 world-class male distance runners (age, 29 ± 4 yr; height, 1.72 ± 0.04 m; mass, 58.9 ± 3.3 kg) completed an incremental treadmill test for the assessment of V̇O2peak, O2 cost of submaximal running, lactate threshold and lactate turn-point, and a track test during which they ran continuously at 21.1 km/h. The laboratory-determined V̇O2peak was 71.0 ± 5.7 mL/kg/min with lactate threshold and lactate turn-point occurring at 18.9 ± 0.4 and 20.2 ± 0.6 km/h, corresponding to 83 ± 5% and 92 ± 3% V̇O2peak, respectively. Seven athletes were able to attain a steady-state V̇O2 when running outdoors at 21.1 km/h. The mean O2 cost for these athletes was 191 ± 19 mL/kg/km such that running at 21.1 km/h required an absolute V̇O2 of ∼4.0 L/min and represented 94 ± 3% V̇O2peak. We report novel data on the O2 cost of running outdoors at 21.1 km/h, which enables better modeling of possible marathon performances by elite athletes. Using the value for O2 cost measured in this study, a sub 2-h marathon would require a 59 kg runner to sustain a V̇O2 of approximately 4.0 L/min or 67 mL/kg/min.

• O’Leary, Thomas J.; Rice, Hannah & Greeves, Julie (2021). Biomechanical Basis of Predicting and Preventing Lower Limb Stress Fractures During Arduous Training. Current Osteoporosis Reports. ISSN 1544-1873. 19(3), p. 308–317. doi: 10.1007/s11914-021-00671-1. Show summary

  Purpose of Review: Stress fractures at weight-bearing sites, particularly the tibia, are common in military recruits and athletes. This review presents recent findings from human imaging and biomechanics studies aimed at predicting and preventing stress fractures. Recent Findings: Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) provides evidence that cortical bone geometry (tibial width and area) is associated with tibial stress fracture risk during weight-bearing exercise. The contribution of bone trabecular microarchitecture, cortical porosity, and bone material properties in the pathophysiology of stress fractures is less clear, but high-resolution pQCT and new techniques such as impact microindentation may improve our understanding of the role of microarchitecture and material properties in stress fracture prediction. Military studies demonstrate osteogenic outcomes from high impact, repetitive tibial loading during training. Kinetic and kinematic characteristics may influence stress fracture risk, but there is no evidence that interventions to modify biomechanics can reduce the incidence of stress fracture. Summary: Strategies to promote adaptive bone formation, in combination with improved techniques to assess bone strength, present exciting opportunities for future research to prevent stress fractures.

• Ellison, Matthew A.; Fulford, Jonathan; Javadi, Akbar & Rice, Hannah (2021). Do non-rearfoot runners experience greater second metatarsal stresses than rearfoot runners? Journal of Biomechanics. ISSN 0021-9290. 126. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110647. Show summary

  Stress fracture of the second metatarsal is a common and problematic injury for runners. The choice of foot strike pattern is known to affect external kinetics and kinematics but its effect on internal loading of the metatarsals is not well understood. Models of various complexities can be used to investigate the effects of running characteristics on metatarsal stresses. This study aimed to compare second metatarsal stress between habitual rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers during barefoot running, using a novel participant-specific finite element model, including accurate metatarsal and soft tissue geometry. Synchronised force and kinematic data were collected during barefoot overground running from 20 participants (12 rearfoot strikers). Stresses were calculated using a previously evaluated and published 3D finite element model. Non-rearfoot strikers demonstrated greater external loading and joint contact forces than rearfoot runners, but there were no differences in stresses between groups. Additionally, the study allowed for a qualitative assessment of bone geometries and stresses. No correlation was found between bone volume and stresses, however, there was found to be a large variation in metatarsal shapes, possibly accounting for the lack of difference in stresses. This emphasises the importance of bone geometry when estimating bone stress and supports the suggestion that external forces should not be assumed to be representative of internal loading.

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• Hoenig, Tim; Saxena, Amol; Rice, Hannah; Hollander, Karsten & Tenforde, Adam S. (2023). Navigating the challenges and opportunities with 'super shoes': balancing performance gains with injury risk. British Journal of Sports Medicine. ISSN 0306-3674. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2023-106875.

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