"Most runners suffer from minor injuries such as cramps, blisters,
skin chafing and subungual haematomas."
"Aches and pains and severe delayed onset muscle stiffness are common
after a marathon and may only be appreciated as significant injuries
if they fail to subside in the following two weeks. Some runners may
experience severe pain for days after a marathon race when walking up
or down stairs."
"Deaths occurring during or shortly after a marathon are naturally
blamed on the event, particularly by the media, but may, in fact, be
random and possibly unrelated."
London Marathon
Year Finishers Seen in hospital
1981 6,418 11
1982 15,758 34
1983 15,776 19
1984 15,649 15
1985 15,841 6
1986 18,031 5
1987 19,970 10
1988 21,100 38
1989 22,651 19
1990 24,871 20
1991 23,080 24
1992 23,657 15
1993 24,369 20
1994 25,000 40
1995 25,272 40
1996 26,000 90
1997 29,000 27
1998 30,000 59
1999 30,700 35
2000 32,600 35
2001 30,071 25
2002 32,200 41
2003 32,300 58
[That's .127% of London Marathon runners reporting to the hospital on
an average year.]
"Based on 23 years? experience, the approximate overall risks of
running the Marathon are:
contact with St John: 1 in 6;
contact with a hospital accident and emergency department: 1 in 800;
hospital admission: 1 in 10,000;
death: 1 in 67,414 ? a risk which is comparable to many daily activities. "
Info and quotes taken from:
London marathon: Lies, damned lies and statistics: what we know about
the incidence of injury, illness and death in the London Marathon
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/london-marathon.html
It does seem slightly biased towards the safety of marathon running,
but it's the only statistics I could find. |
