Running a marathon poses no special risk to heart: study

Competing in a marathon or half-marathon doesn't raise a runner's chance of suffering a cardiac arrest any more than other vigorous physical activity, according to a study reviewing a decade of data. Researchers combed databases, search engines, local newspapers and runners' websites to identify everyone who had a cardiac arrest, an electrical disturbance that halts the heart, during long-distance races in the United States from 2000 to 2010. Out of nearly 11 million participants in races of 13.1 miles to 26.2 miles, they identified 59 runners who suffered a cardiac arrest. While reports of heart complications and sudden death after long races have risen in recent years, the increase stems from a greater number of participants, the investigators said. The overall danger is low, particularly compared with the risk seen in college sports, triathlons, and among previously overweight middle-age joggers, the New England Journal of Medicine report found