Runners are not typically victims of a torn ligament, at least not in a violent fashion as it happens in the case of the athletes where heavy impact is a common occurrence. Torn acl symptoms in runners are therefore lighter if you will, they start to show slowly, so the athlete simply starts feeling an increasing pain whenever he is practicing any sport or doing some running, and he may start to feel some overall instability of the knee whenever he tries to do sudden movements or stops. Although the effects of a torn ligament in a runner will not be as dramatic as they may be in other sports, the truth is that running puts a lot of consistent stress on the ligaments and it may lead to the torn acl symptoms in runners in the same proportion of the injury. That is why runners should always use shoes that mitigate the impact of running.