No Link Between Marathon Participation and Cardiac Arrest

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said that participating in marathons did not increase the risk of cardiac arrests.The study was conducted by researchers led by Jonathan Kim from Massachusetts General Hospital who collected data from various sources regarding deaths caused by cardiac arrests following long distances races and found that among 11 million participants, there were 59 deaths due to cardiac arrests.
The researchers said that while the number of deaths has increased in recent years, it was only due to the increased number of participants in marathons and the risk of cardiac arrests were lower when compared to other physical activities such as college sports and triathlons.
“The risk associated with long-distance running events is equivalent to or lower than the risk associated with other vigorous physical activity”, the researchers wrote.