Are you more likely to get hurt running or playing golf?

For those of us who have been sidelined by serious injury, running can seem like a minefield of miseries and mishaps. Between stress fractures, tendon tears and all the other pitfalls that can force us off our feet, it sometimes feels as though healthy running is just the filler between different forms of hurt.

But new research out of the U.K. comparing the risk of serious injury among dozens of sports may offer a healthy dose of perspective to runners on the mend, as it has confirmed running is indeed one of the safest physical activities to engage in.

The study, published last week by the University of Bath, looked at 61 sports and other physical activities and compared them in terms of risks to participants. For the study, researchers looked at 11,702 trauma injuries resulting from sports and exercise reported at hospitals and England and Wales over a five-year period.

The data showed running is among the activities that presented the lowest risk of serious injury. The study concludes running results in just 0.7 injuries for every 100,000 participants per year. In comparing the odds of sustaining a serious injury, it found running is riskier than participating in “fitness classes” (presenting the lowest risk at 0.1 injuries/100,000 participants/year) but safer than playing golf (1.25 injuries/100,000 participants/year).

Among sports with the highest participation, soccer had the highest injury incidence rate (6.56 injuries/100,000 participants/year), although the study’s authors describe that risk as relatively small.

Motorsports, equestrian activities and hang-gliding were by far the riskiest activities of those studied, with motorsports resulting in 532 injuries, equestrian pursuits 235 and gliding (paragliding and hang gliding) 191 injuries per 100,000 participants per year.)

The study also showed that, across sports, men are almost twice as likely as women to suffer a serious injury (6.4 injuries compared to 3.3 injuries/100,000 participants/year).

What other activities can help you maintain running fitness through injury?

The main conclusion the researchers drew from the study is that, even in those activities identified as higher risks, the benefits of taking part in fitness activities far outweigh the dangers.

“This work demonstrates that engaging in fitness activities is overwhelmingly a safe and beneficial pursuit,” said Sean Williams of the University of Bath’s Centre for Health and Injury and Illness Prevention. “While no physical activity is entirely without risk, the chance of serious injury is exceedingly low when compared to the myriad health and wellness advantages gained from staying active.”