What a frightening thought: dying while running. Everyone tells you that running is good for your heart…The following is an article written by the NYTimes…it’s on the heals of the runners who died at the Detroit Half and Full Marathon. I’d like to get thoughts from the group!
Are Marathons Safe?
Susan Tusa/Associated Press
The starting line of the 2009 Detroit Marathon.
When I decided to tackle my first marathon this year, I did so for my health. I knew that setting a big goal like running a marathon would help me jump-start my exercise program.
But a spate of deaths during recent marathons has many people questioning the health benefits of marathon running. A few weeks ago, two runners in their 30s, a man and a woman, died during a half-marathon in San Jose, Calif. This weekend, three men ages 26, 36 and 65 died during the Detroit marathon, although it was later reported that they were all competing in the half-marathon event. The cause of death isn’t yet known for any of these runners.
Deaths during marathons are not unheard of, but they are relatively rare. In April, a study presented at the American College of Cardiology scientific session in Orlando, Fla., reported that the risk of sudden death during a marathon is 0.8 per 100,000 people. The risk is greater during triathlon events, which include running, swimming and cycling. In the triathlon, the risk of sudden death is 1.5 in 100,000, according to the report. The incidence of sudden cardiac death in young adults has been estimated at 0.9 and 2.3 per 100,000 for non-athletes and athletes, respectively.
By comparison, the risk of dying in childbirth is 13 per 100,000 births. The risk of dying from diabetes is 23 per 100,000 population. The risk of dying in a car accident is 1 in 6,700.
Much has been written about whether marathons increase risk for heart attacks. PhysEd columnist Gretchen Reynolds recently explored this issue in great detail in her article, “Are Marathons Good for the Heart?.” While several studies have found suggestions of short-term heart damage among marathon runners, the benefits of regular exercise appear to outweigh the risks. Even so, the research is still troubling. From the article:
In one of the largest recent studies, published in January, Canadian researchers recruited 129 non-elite runners in Winnipeg and tested their blood just before they ran a half or full marathon. Their blood markers for heart injury were normal. By the time they’d reached the finish line, though, according to blood tests done there, most of the half-marathoners and even more of the marathoners displayed elevated troponin and other blood markers of heart damage, and after an hour, when they were tested yet again, even more of both groups, especially the marathoners, showed blood indicators of cardiac damage. “We measure those same blood markers when someone comes in to the emergency room and we suspect a heart attack,” says Davinder S. Jassal, MD, an assistant professor of cardiology, radiology, and physiology at the University of Manitoba medical school in Winnipeg and lead author of the study. Blood profiles like those displayed by the runners, he says, “are similar to those in a very mild heart attack.”
This week, the magazine Runner’s World spoke with Dr. Paul Thompson, director of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., and a long-time marathon runner who has studied the relationship between exercise and heart disease. Dr. Thompson offers a number of explanations for the unusual spate of deaths. It may simply be that we are seeing additional deaths of runners because more runners than ever are taking part in the sport. Or it could be that these unfortunate deaths are just random events for which there is no meaningful explanation.
While Dr. Thompson offers general reassurance about the safety of marathon running, he also notes that there is a lot we don’t know.
“There’s no doubt the marathon is a very hard, stressful event,” he tells Runner’s World. “We’re confident that exercisers have lower heart risks than non-exercisers, but the truth is we don’t know this for sure about marathoners.”
To hear more from Dr. Thompson, including additional insights about the risks of running vs. the risks of being sedentary. And then please join the discussion below. Were you rattled to hear of the recent deaths of these five runners? Has it made a difference in your interest in marathon running?
Sheeesh! Thanks for scaring me!
I’m going to rationalize (translation- unscientifically marginalize) it this way. 1 death per 100000 runners in a marathon. If the average run time is ~4 hrs/marathon, then there is 1 death per 400000 people-hours of running. At most I run 6 hours/week (or 6 people-hours/week; a unit of running I just invented!). At that rate, running will kill me after 1538 years of running. Lots of shoes- eh?
Could you PLEASE post something more uplifting? Something along the lines of -”free shoes” or “100 percent discounts- storewide” would be nice.
In Jest,
Suresh
I hope people, particularly doctors, pay attention to the study referenced re: troponin and other “heart damage” markers. After a particularly difficult long-run weekend this summer, I wound up in hospital due to dehydration (my bad). Unfortunately, once some blood tests were taken, it took almost 48 hours, and lots of $$$ tests (my insurance is not THAT good), to convince everyone that I had NOT had a heart attack.
Also, to extrapolate on my good friend Suresh’s “unscientific marginalization”, given that I would MUCH rather die running than die in a car accident, I am going to have to start running a LOT more, and driving a LOT less.
Anything worth doing comes with an element of risk. I certainly do not have a death wish. However to not do the things in life that give us true joy is a self imposed death sentance.