Nieman recruited a group of racers and asked half of them to forgo ibuprofen during the event, something many would-be participants were loath to do. Afterward, he compared pain and inflammation in runners who took ibuprofen during the race with those who didn’t, and the results were startling. Ibuprofen failed to reduce muscle pain or soreness, and blood tests revealed that ibuprofen takers actually experienced greater levels of inflammation than those who eschewed the drug. “There is absolutely no reason for runners to be using ibuprofen,” Nieman said.
