In other words, running a marathon prevents coronary artery disease (CAD).īassler compared marathon runners to the heart-disease-free Masai warriors and Tarahumara Indians in that they all maintain active lifestyles, eat healthy diets, and have enlarged and wide-bore coronary arteries.Īfter reviewing the cause of death in marathon runners from the previous 10 years, Bassler claimed that “there have been no reports of fatal, histologically proven, deaths among 42K men.”
Tom Bassler (1977), who suggested that the stress of running a marathon built immunity to the development of fatty deposits within coronary arteries. The boldest theory regarding marathon running was made by Dr. This and other questions regarding marathon running were addressed at The Marathon: Physiological, Medical, Epidemiological, and Psychological Studies conference in 1976. Just how stressful to the human body is running a marathon? The accuracy of this account has been questioned by modern scholar s (Martin and Gynn 2000) however, the unfortunate outcome of Pheidippides is manifested in a few marathon runners every year. Upon his arrival, Pheidippides exclaimed, “Rejoice, we conquer” and dropped dead-or did he? The physiology on marathon running starts with Pheidippides, who reputedly ran from the plains of Marathon to the city of Athens to report the victory of the Athenian army over the Persians. The findings from such studies can help potential marathon runners better appreciate what they will be up against and remind seasoned marathon runners just how amazing the human body is. It is no wonder then that the story of Pheidippides and his marathon run to Athens easily grew into a tragic tale about how running a marathon killed the first person to do so.įortunately, scientists have researched the physiological stresses of running a marathon. Such extended energy demands require the cardiorespiratory, endocrine, and neuromuscular systems to operate at an elevated level for an inordinate length of time. While marathon running is far from damaging, it should be respected for the physiological stress inflicted over its 26.2 miles.įor example, running a five-minute-per-mile marathon requires a 15-fold increase in energy production for over two hours.Įven runners who finish in over four hours maintain a 10-fold increase in their metabolism. On the flip side, casual runners think that if a pampered celebrity can run a marathon, it can’t be all that strenuous. Running a marathon has been viewed, and still is by many, as t oo extreme to be healthy.Ĭertainly, the physical stress of running a marathon played some role in not holding a women’s Olympic marathon race until 1984. Just What Does Running a Marathon Do to Your Body?
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