[philipwhiuk]

And what's the sudden cardiac risk for any other given activity. "Cardiac Risk in the Young" is a legitimate problem regardless of running a marathon.

And what's the cardiac risk for no exercise at all?

You're not controlling for the fact you have to exist.

[ggm]

I'm not here to argue for not doing marathons. It's safer than walking out with a risk of thunder, its a bit less safe than walking by a bee hive.

I do note that every marathon runner I know (thats about 5) carries some burdens afterward above and beyond simple post-race injury: there is an effect on your health, it's multi-dimensional, and it goes on a while. They enjoyed the run so I guess it's a fair exchange. Knowing when to stop is part of the process I guess.

[philipwhiuk]

> I do note that every marathon runner I know (thats about 5) carries some burdens afterward above and beyond simple post-race injury: there is an effect on your health, it's multi-dimensional, and it goes on a while. They enjoyed the run so I guess it's a fair exchange. Knowing when to stop is part of the process I guess.

People bucket-list it. They don't prepare properly, they train through injury because they want to do the race they spent money on, or they just think they can wing it (not helped by TV shows and celebrity comments). And they get injured as a result.

It's not hard to run a marathon and not get injured. It's just lots of people think they can shortcut hard work.

I've done 9 marathons. The only long lasting sports injury I have is from skiing.

I'm tired of anecodotal data being unacceptable in any field except running, where old wives tales and crappy studies replace actual data, which is that, if you train properly, running is beneficial for your health and there's no actual contraindictions.

Why is it we A-B test button colours on a marketing website but we accept folksy knowledge for serious topics.

[mbreese]

Just to concur (and I’ve run a similar number) - what I tell people that ask about my training schedule is that just running a marathon isn’t the hard part. With some training and mental effort, it can be done… but that will only get you so far.

For me, the real reason for training is so that when you’re done, you can still walk normally the next day… that you have a good experience… and that your body feels better for the effort. The training takes (a lot of) time and is hard work, but if you follow a solid training plan, your body can be well prepared for it. If you don’t train enough, you will not have a good experience. I’m about 8 weeks out from my next one and this is when the grind really starts for me. But I know that if I follow the plan, I’ll have a good experience on the day of the race (and after).

Oh, and for the record, I’m nowhere near a BQ time. :)

[mikestew]

They don't prepare properly…

I’ve seen so many people who do half their weekly mileage in one day: their Sunday long run. That alone is a recipe for injury and, come race day, a good way to find that “wall” everyone talks about. Top that off with weekly mileage that hovers around 30 miles/week at best, and yeah, folks are going to get injured and/or be barely able to walk the next day.

Running marathons isn’t bad for you, but running marathons when poorly trained is.