List of marathon fatalities
Below is a sortable list of individuals who died as a result of running a marathon. The most-frequent causes are:
- sudden cardiac death, triggered by a congenital or acquired heart disorder;
- exercise-associated hyponatremia or other electrolyte imbalance;
- exertional heat stroke or severe hyperthermia.
The age distribution ranges widely, from the teens through the 60s.
In 2016, a systematic medical review found that the risk of sudden cardiac death during or immediately after a marathon was between 0.6 and 1.9 deaths per 100,000 participants, varying across the specific studies and the methods used, and not controlling for age or gender. This translates to a few published marathon deaths worldwide in a typical year, although the authors lamented the lack of a central registry for the information.[1]
The second major risk arises from imbalanced fluid or electrolyte levels, particularly hyponatremia (sodium deficiency, overhydration, or water intoxication). As a marathon medical director described the counter-intuitive and under-publicized risk in 2005: "There are no reported cases of dehydration causing death in the history of world running, but there are plenty of cases of people dying of hyponatremia."[2]
Heat stroke is an emergency condition in which thermoregulation fails and the body temperature rises above 104 °F (40 °C). It becomes a greater risk in warm and humid weather.[3]
Origin | Name [ref.] | Age | Marathon date | Event | Location | Cause / Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pheidippides[4] | c.40 | 12 September 490 BC | Battle of Marathon, then c.26 mi (42 km) run |
Marathon, Greece to Athens |
death honored by the modern marathon | |
Francisco Lázaro[5] | 21 | 15 July 1912 | Olympic Marathon | Stockholm, Sweden | electrolyte imbalance | |
Jacques Bussereau[6] | 48 | 28 October 1984 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | heart attack | |
Duncan Kerr[7] | 28 | 22 September 1985 | Glasgow Marathon | Glasgow, UK | pneumonia | |
Martin A. Wurst, Jr.[8] | 32 | 2 November 1986 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, DC, US | coronary artery disease | |
Edwin Brown[9] | 47 | 14 December 1986 | Dallas Marathon | Dallas, US | heart attack | |
Thomas Becker[10] | 40 | 8 October 1989 | Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, US | heart attack | |
William McKinney[11] | 59 | 4 March 1990 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | heart attack | |
Lisa B. Christensen[12] | 19 | 4 November 1990 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, DC, US | coronary artery abnormality | |
Julius Becza[13] | 58 | 24 October 1993 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, DC, US | heart attack | |
Samuel Grafton[14] | 42 | 16 October 1994 | Detroit Marathon | Detroit, US | heart attack | |
Pierre Marguet[15] | 27 | 6 November 1994 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | heart attack; and also for an unnamed second fatality | |
Humphrey Siesage[16] | 61 | 15 April 1996 | Boston Marathon | Boston, US | heart attack | |
Kelly Barrett[17] | 43 | 11 October 1998 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | hyponatremia | |
Don Scott[18] | 48 | 26 September 1999 | Robin Hood Marathon | Nottingham, UK | heart attack | |
Danny Towns[17] | 45 | 22 October 2000 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | heart attack | |
Luke Roach[17] | 22 | 7 October 2001 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | heat stroke | |
Laura M. Clancy[19] | 29 | 20 October 2001 | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore, US | brain aneurysm | |
Cynthia Lucero[20] | 28 | 15 April 2002 | Boston Marathon | Boston, US | hyponatremia | |
Hilary Bellamy[20] | 35 | 27 October 2002 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, DC, US | hyponatremia | |
Craig Johanson[18] | 28 | 14 September 2003 | Robin Hood Marathon | Nottingham, UK | cardiac arrhythmia | |
Rachael Townsend[21] | 29 | 12 October 2003 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | mitral valve prolapse | |
James Leone[11] | 60 | 19 March 2006 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | heart attack | |
Raul Reyna[11] | 53 | 19 March 2006 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | heart attack | |
William Goggins[22] | 43 | 30 July 2006 | San Francisco Marathon | San Francisco, US | hypertrophic cardiomyopathy | |
George Spears, Sr.[23] | 49 | 1 October 2006 | Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, US | heart attack | |
Earl Seyford[24] | 56 | 29 October 2006 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, DC, US | heart attack | |
Marc Witkes[25] | 40 | 10 December 2006 | Tucson Marathon | Tucson, US | congenital heart abnormalities | |
David Rogers[26] | 22 | 22 April 2007 | London Marathon | London, UK | hyponatremia | |
Chad Schieber[27] | 35 | 7 October 2007 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | mitral valve prolapse | |
Ryan Shay[28] | 28 | 3 November 2007 | USA Marathon Championships | New York City, US | cardiac arrhythmia | |
Adam Nickel[29] | 27 | 2 March 2008 | Little Rock Marathon | Little Rock, US | coronary artery abnormality; electrolyte imbalance | |
Carlos Jose Gomes[30] | 58 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | heart attack | |
Joseph Marotta[30] | 66 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | heart attack | |
Fred Costa[30] | 41 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | heart attack | |
Erin Lahr[31] | 29 | 14 December 2008 | Dallas Marathon | Dallas, US | cardiac arrhythmia | |
Colin Dunne[32] | 27 | 1 March 2009 | Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, Spain | heart attack | |
Peter Curtin[33] | 23 | 10 October 2009 | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore, US | undetermined; body temperature 107 °F (42 °C) | |
William Caviness[34] | 35 | 9 October 2011 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | heart attack | |
Ulysses Thomas[35] | 58 | 5 November 2011 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon | Savannah, US | ||
Claire Squires[36] | 30 | 22 April 2012 | London Marathon | London, UK | heart attack, DMAA supplement | |
Xavier Jiménez[37] | 45 | 17 March 2013 | Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, Spain | heart attack | |
Sam Harper Brighouse[38] | 23 | 14 April 2013 | Brighton Marathon | Brighton, UK | ischemic colitis | |
R. Jacob Zeman[39] | 35 | 9 November 2013 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon | Savannah, US | "unsuspected heart condition" | |
Robert Berry[40] | 42 | 13 April 2014 | London Marathon | London, UK | heat stroke | |
Mike Freeman[41] | 55 | 28 February 2016 | Vodafone Malta Marathon | Sliema, Malta | "natural causes" | |
David Seath[42] | 31 | 24 April 2016 | London Marathon | London, UK | heart attack | |
Matt Campbell[43] | 29 | 22 April 2018 | London Marathon | London, UK | TBC | |
Col. | Juan Camilo Arboleda Alzate[44] | 38 | 17 September 2018 | Medellin Marathon | Medellin, Colombia | heart attack |
See also
References
- ^ "Sudden cardiac death in marathons: a systematic review". The Physician and Sportsmedicine. 44 (1): 79–84. January 2016. doi:10.1080/00913847.2016.1135036. PMID 26765272.
- ^ "Marathoners Warned About Too Much Water", The New York Times, 20 October 2005.
- ^ "American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Exertional heat illness during training and competition". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 39 (3): 556–572. March 2007. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31802fa199. PMID 17473783.
- ^ "Bristol team to mark 2,500th anniversary of the first marathon", University of Bristol, 7 September 2011.
- ^ "Francisco Lázaro, a emborcação no treino", Fórum Olímpico de Portugal.
- ^ "The splendor of the New York City Marathon was...", UPI, 29 October 1984.
- ^ "Can Running Kill?", Scotland's Runner, August 1986.
- ^ "Marine Who Died During Marathon Here Had Undiagnosed Heart Ailment", Washington Post, 4 November 1986.
- ^ "Dallas White Rock Marathon: The Seventeenth Annual Running", December 1986.
- ^ "Runner dies after finishing", St. Cloud Times, 9 October 1989.
- ^ a b c "Exuberance of L.A. Marathon Tempered by Runners' Deaths", Los Angeles Times, 20 March 2006.
- ^ "Marathon's No Random Killer, But No Running From Death", Washington Post, 12 November 1990.
- ^ "Runner's Heart Attack Was Waiting to Happen", Washington Post, 30 October 1993.
- ^ "Runner, 42, collapses and dies", Detroit Free Press, 17 October 1994.
- ^ "New York City Marathon: Two Runners Are Dead From Cardiac Arrest", The New York Times, 7 November 1994. "A second runner, a man approximately 45 years old whose name was not released by St. Luke's Hospital or marathon officials, also died."
- ^ "Heartbreak Hill Claims Another Victim", Associated Press, 16 April 1996.
- ^ a b c "How marathons can kill you", Chicago Sun-Times, 6 October 2002.
- ^ a b "Marathon death man named", BBC, 15 September 2003.
- ^ "Marathon Runner Collapses, Dies", The Baltimore Sun, 11 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Too Much of a Good Thing", The Washington Times, 23 October 2003.
- ^ "Coach copes with wife's death", The Columbus Dispatch, 27 January 2004.
- ^ "The Fit Man's Heart Threat", Men's Health, 23 August 2007.
- ^ "Man who died in Twin Cities Marathon was experienced runner", Associated Press, 2 October 2006.
- ^ "Runner collapses, dies during Marine Corps Marathon", Associated Press, 30 October 2006.
- ^ "Man who died in marathon had congenital heart disease", Tucson Citizen, 23 January 2007.
- ^ "Marathon victim died from drinking too MUCH water", Daily Mail, 24 April 2007.
- ^ "Autopsy: Man who died in Chicago Marathon had heart condition", Associated Press, 8 October 2007.
- ^ "Ryan Shay dies in U.S. Olympic marathon trials", USA Today, 3 November 2007.
- ^ "Doctors: Ark. marathon runner died of rare mix of heart condition, electrolyte abnormalities", Associated Press, 7 April 2008.
- ^ a b c "Secrets of the New York City Marathon". amNewYork. 4 November 2016.
- ^ "Heart condition caused White Rock Marathon runner's death", The Dallas Morning News, 2 March 2009.
- ^ "Teacher dies from heart attack during marathon", The Independent, 2 March 2009.
- ^ "Runner Was MIT Student; N.C. Native Died During The Baltimore Marathon Saturday", The Baltimore Sun, 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Capt William Lee 'Will' Caviness", Find A Grave, October 2011.
- ^ "Marathon runner was 'picture of health,' wife says", Savannah Morning News, 9 November 2011.
- ^ "Claire Squires inquest: DMAA was factor in marathon runner's death", BBC, 30 January 2013.
- ^ "Muere un atleta en el maratón de Barcelona", El Periódico de Aragón, 17 March 2013.
- ^ "Brighton marathon runner died from bowel failure", The Guardian, 28 August 2013.
- ^ "Mr. Robert Jacob (Jake) Zeman obituary", Tributes.com, 11 November 2013.
- ^ "London marathon runner died yards from finish after his body overheated", London Evening Standard, 28 August 2014.
- ^ "Marathon runner died of natural causes – police", Times of Malta, 1 March 2016.
- ^ "London Marathon runner David Seath dies after collapsing near finish line", The Guardian, 25 April 2016.
- ^ "London Marathon: Masterchef semi-finalist Matt Campbell dies", BBC News, 22 April 2017.
- ^ "Medellin half-marathon chaos as runner hit by a car while fellow participant dies". The Sun. 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
Further reading
- Burfoot, Amby. "Are marathons dangerous?", Runner's World, 3 November 2008.
- English, Joe. "Why do runners die during marathons?", Running-Advice.com, 13 March 2008.
- Noakes, Tim. "Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports", Human Kinetics, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4504-2497-4.