Beyond the laurels, the threat of injury or death

Anyone contemplating running a marathon is well advised to consider Pheidippides, the messenger in ancient Greece whose long-distance running feat gave us the word marathon and the race that goes with it. Within minutes of arriving in Athens and delivering a message of victory in battle the exhausted Pheidippides died.

In the 120 years since the first marathon was run at the founding of the modern Olympic Games, many have worn the laurels of victory after the race, or simply savored the satisfaction of being able to finish it but, as with Pheidippides, the extreme physical stress has cost a few their lives, too. While such deaths are not that common, they are likely to rise as the number of marathon events rise.

The risk of injury is integral to marathoning, and medical experts warn that anyone taking part should do so only after sufficient preparation, which usually takes many months.