Is marathoning safe?

Two dead a the recent Philadelphia Marathon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/runners-who-died-in-philadelphia-marathon-are-identified-but-cause-of-death-is-not-certain/2011/11/21/gIQAdcWhiN_blog.html

One dead at Chicago.

Seems like these stories accompany a lot of big city marathons these days.

I get that, statistically, one death in however many thousand runners isn't a huge deal. But it's tough to be a cold rationalist when you are thinking about jumping back into the fray.

Thoughts?

 

I would not let my 10-year-old run a marathon.

And, if someone thinks that's being overprotective, too bad! [/crossthread]

 

Please don't let Rick see this thread.

 

That was who I was most worried about when I posted it.

 

I've run three. To my knowledge nobody died during any of them.

 

Marathon running is asinine.

Know what happened to the first guy who ran a marathon? The first guy? He FUCKING collapsed and died.
Who the hell thinks copying that run is a good idea?

Rosie Ruiz had the right idea.

 

I don't like to drive 26.2 miles...

 

In theory, the training you have to do for a marathon, triathlon, etc., should be a positive for your health.

However, for most podunk events that don't have minimum qualifying standards, it's up to the individual to determine if they're healthy enough to complete one.

That's why registration forms always have some statement you sign holding organizers harmless in case you drop dead of heat exhaustion, drowning, heart attack, etc.

I guess you are at risk for accidental death in just about any sport.

 

I wrote a story about this once. The University of Toronto studied marathons for 30 years, and figured out your chances of dying while running a marathon are less than 1 in 100,000, which is actually a better mortality rate than people who don't run them. Who do nothing. Far more people die playing pick-up basketball than they do running marathons. In almost all cases, the young and healthy people who die running marathons end up dead because of pre-existing conditions like heart defects. It's often stuff that wouldn't even show up on a stress test. The older people who die tend to have some kind of coronary disease. They probably shouldn't be running marathons anyway.

Marathons are actually a lot safer than most sports because you almost always have people providing hydration along the route, you almost always have minimum qualifying standards, and there has to be medical personnel close by. If you're playing basketball in the middle of Chicago, and you collapse, the chances of having an EMT near by nowhere near as good as they are if you collapse running a marathon.

Sorry to say, but it's a media-driven narrative. You have a greater risk of dying in childbirth. You're 15 times more likely to die in a car accident than running a marathon.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/are-marathons-safe/

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Marathon+deaths+frightening/5461136/story.html#ixzz1ZGRnWpov

 

You can always, ya know, slow down. Or walk.

 

Or sit on your couch and eat Cheetos.