Not the old way - a meta-analysis of 25 trials (26,610 participants) found static stretching had no injury-prevention benefit, while strength training cut injuries to under a third.
What helps before a run is a dynamic warm-up - leg swings, walking lunges, easy jogging - raising muscle temperature for the work ahead. Save long static holds for after, when muscles are warm; Harvard notes stretching is a long-term flexibility practice, not a pre-run shield. Pymander's escalation routing is built and tested specifically for this class of decision; see the safety architecture working paper .
What to do
Common questions
Should I stretch before running?
Not the old way - holding long static stretches before you run does not prevent injuries, and the numbers are blunt. A British Journal of Sports Medicine meta-analysis of 25 trials with 26,610 participants found stretching had no beneficial effect on injury prevention (relative risk 0.96 - essentially nothing), while strength training cut injuries to less than a third and proprioception training nearly halved them. That does not mean start cold: what helps before a run is a dynamic warm-up - leg swings, walking lunges, a few minutes of easy jogging - which raises muscle temperature and range of motion for the work ahead, rather than relaxing muscles you are about to load. Save the long holds for after: static stretching post-run, when muscles are warm, is where it does its flexibility work. Harvard's stretching guidance lands the same way - stretching matters for keeping muscles flexible long-term, but it is a regular practice, not a pre-run ritual. The honest summary: warm up dynamically, strengthen weekly, stretch after.