Morbid marathoning: three ways the 26.2 could, but probably won’t, kill you

Image by ahisgett via Flickr

Yesterday’s Detroit Marathon has reinvigorated the debate over the potential dangers of distance running. In 2007, elite runner Ryan Shay collapsed and died during the men’s Olympic trials. Shay’s autopsy revealed an irregular heartbeat, because he had what medical experts call “athlete’s heart” – an ultra-low heartrate that allows for added endurance during aerobic activity.

Since Shay’s death, I’ve read more and more debate about whether long-distance running is a health hazard. And after three otherwise healthy men died during yesterday’s run in Detroit (all three were doing the half-marathon event), I’m readying myself for yet another surge of media sensationalism about the sport. But if you think the risk of dropping dead is excuse enough to skip trying a 26.2 sometime in your life, think again. Three studies to put the perils into perspective:

1. Your real risk of kicking it because of cardiac arrest. In one of the most exhaustive studies on marathon safety, researchers at the University of Toronto profiled the marathon results of 3,292,268 runners, competing on 750 separate days, encompassing about 14 million hours of exercise. They found 26 deaths due to cardiac event, which makes the statistical risk less than 0.000006 percent. For comparison’s sake, the study actually concluded that the risk of dying on a marathon route was higher on the other 364 days of the year – because of traffic accidents.

2. If you train right, you need not worry. Yes, a 2006 study published in Circulation did determine that permanent – albeit minor – heart damage was a risk of marathon running. But before you toss your Garmin, consider that the study also concluded that proper training was enough to mitigate the risks. Those who ran 45 miles a week for several weeks prior to their 26.2 managed to significantly cut their chance of cardiac damage. So if a stress fracture or muscle tear doesn’t bust you for overdoing it, a heart attack just might wreck your race day.

3. It’s not even on the top 15 most-risky list. You’re more likely to die lawn bowling than running, and it’s not just the geriatric demographic. Trust me, my sister has a 10-inch scar on her forehead from a game-gone-wrong. And running isn’t even on the list of the fifteen most injury-prone sports: basketball injures more than 500,000 people a year. And we all know that those cheerleaders are just asking for it.

Of course, you could always cop out and golf instead: they’ve got a 40 percent lower death rate than non-players. But, as I think we can all agree, it’s better to die than to golf. So, while you might do a little bit of pelvic damage, bloody your nipples or suffer some gastrointestinal discomfort, you probably won’t be hustled off the course on a stretcher.