Running is a sport anyone can take part in no matter the time or place and it is an ideal form of sports to develop one´s respiratory and blood circulatory systems. As a sport, running is one-sided and strains certain parts of the body repeatedly. That is why developing repetitive strain injury from running isn´t suprising. According to various studies 50 to 70 percent of runners develop repetitive strain injury during the running season.

The topic of this bachelor´s thesis was defined to describe the most common repetitive strain injuries of running according to various studies. The most commonly occuring injuries were plantar fascitis, achilles tendonitis, iliotibial band syndrome, patellofemoral pain syndrome and medial tibial stress syndrome. Describing the biomechanics of running and the role of the physiotherapist in rehabilitating and preventing above-mentioned injuries from occurring were also essential in this bachelor´s thesis. National and international professional literature and databases were a source of information in this thesis.

The purpose of this thesis was to produce a web-based muscle maintenance guide for long distance runners. The objective was that the members of the marathon section could utilize the information they get from the guide in their running practises. With this information they can prevent and rehabilitate the existing and potential repetitive strain injuries of long distance running. Selecting specific and appropriate physiotherapeutic exercises to the guide was also one of the goals of this bachelor´s thesis.

The main result of this bachelor´s thesis was a web-based muscle maintenance guide for long distance runners. The Kauhajoen Karhu marathon section was the commissioner of the guide. The section will publish the guide at their website.

In the future it would be more demonstrational to utilize videos in the instructing of the exercises when creating muscle maintenance guides. From the video it would be easier to see how to perform the exercises and what to pay attention to. Simultaneously it would allow for a more varied and extended verbal demonstrating.