Cardiac Arrest during Long-Distance Running Races

Approximately 2 million people participate in long-distance running races in the United States annually. Reports of race-related cardiac arrests have generated concern about the safety of this activity.

We assessed the incidence and outcomes of cardiac arrest associated with marathon and half-marathon races in the United States from January 1, 2000, to May 31, 2010. We determined the clinical characteristics of the arrests by interviewing survivors and the next of kin of nonsurvivors, reviewing medical records, and analyzing postmortem data.