Below is a sortable list of individuals who died as a result of running a marathon.
The most frequent causes are:
The age distribution ranges widely, from the teens through the sixties.
In 2016, a systematic medical review found that the risk of sudden cardiac death during or immediately after a marathon was between 0.6 and 1.9 deaths per 100,000 participants, varying across the specific studies and the methods used, and not controlling for age or gender. This translates to a few published marathon deaths worldwide in a typical year, although the authors lamented the lack of a central registry for the information.[1]
The second major risk arises from imbalanced fluid or electrolyte levels, particularly hyponatremia (sodium deficiency, overhydration, or water intoxication). As a marathon medical director described the counter-intuitive and under-publicized risk in 2005: "There are no reported cases of dehydration causing death in the history of world running, but there are plenty of cases of people dying of hyponatremia."[2]
Heat stroke is an emergency condition in which thermoregulation fails and the body temperature rises above 104 °F (40 °C). It becomes a greater risk in warm and humid weather.[3]
Origin | Name [ref.] | Age | Marathon date | Event | Location | Cause / Notes |
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Francisco Lázaro[4] | 24 | 15 July 1912 | Olympic Marathon | Stockholm, Sweden | Electrolyte imbalance |
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Jakob Jutz[5] | 35-36 | 26 August 1951 | Swiss Athletics Federation Marathon Championships | Cham, Switzerland | Heart failure |
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Jacques Bussereau[6] | 48 | 28 October 1984 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
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Duncan Kerr[7] | 28 | 22 September 1985 | Glasgow Marathon | Glasgow, UK | Pneumonia |
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Martin A. Wurst, Jr.[8] | 32 | 2 November 1986 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Coronary artery disease |
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Edwin Brown[9] | 47 | 14 December 1986 | Dallas Marathon | Dallas, US | Heart attack |
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Thomas Becker[10] | 40 | 8 October 1989 | Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, US | Heart attack |
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William McKinney[11] | 59 | 4 March 1990 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | Heart attack |
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Lisa B. Christensen[12] | 19 | 4 November 1990 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Coronary artery abnormality |
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Julius Becza[13] | 58 | 24 October 1993 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Heart attack |
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Samuel Grafton[14] | 42 | 16 October 1994 | Detroit Marathon | Detroit, US | Heart attack |
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Pierre Marguet[15] | 27 | 6 November 1994 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack; also for an unnamed second fatality |
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Humphrey Siesage[16] | 61 | 15 April 1996 | Boston Marathon | Boston, US | Heart attack |
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Anna Loyley[17][18] | 26 | 8 March 1998 | Bath Half Marathon | London, UK | Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome |
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Kelly Barrett[19] | 43 | 11 October 1998 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Hyponatremia |
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Don Scott[20] | 48 | 26 September 1999 | Robin Hood Marathon | Nottingham, UK | Heart attack |
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Danny Towns[19] | 45 | 22 October 2000 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Heart attack |
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Luke Roach[19] | 22 | 7 October 2001 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Heat stroke |
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Laura M. Clancy[21] | 29 | 20 October 2001 | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore, US | Brain aneurysm |
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Cynthia Lucero[22] | 28 | 15 April 2002 | Boston Marathon | Boston, US | Hyponatremia |
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Hilary Bellamy[22] | 35 | 27 October 2002 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Hyponatremia |
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Craig Johanson[20] | 28 | 14 September 2003 | Robin Hood Marathon | Nottingham, UK | Cardiac arrhythmia |
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Rachael Townsend[23] | 29 | 12 October 2003 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Mitral valve prolapse |
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James Leone[11] | 60 | 19 March 2006 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | Heart attack |
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Raul Reyna[11] | 53 | 19 March 2006 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | Heart attack |
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William Goggins[24] | 43 | 30 July 2006 | San Francisco Marathon | San Francisco, US | Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy |
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George Spears, Sr.[25] | 49 | 1 October 2006 | Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, US | Heart attack |
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Earl Seyford[26] | 56 | 29 October 2006 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Heart attack |
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Marc Witkes[27] | 40 | 10 December 2006 | Tucson Marathon | Tucson, US | Congenital heart abnormalities |
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David Rogers[28] | 22 | 22 April 2007 | London Marathon | London, UK | Hyponatremia |
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Chad Schieber[29] | 35 | 7 October 2007 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Mitral valve prolapse |
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Ryan Shay[30] | 28 | 3 November 2007 | USA Marathon Championships | New York City, US | Cardiac arrhythmia |
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Adam Nickel[31] | 27 | 2 March 2008 | Little Rock Marathon | Little Rock, US | Coronary artery abnormality; electrolyte imbalance |
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Carlos Jose Gomes[32] | 58 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
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Joseph Marotta[32] | 66 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
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Fred Costa[32] | 41 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
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Erin Lahr[33] | 29 | 14 December 2008 | Dallas Marathon | Dallas, US | Cardiac arrhythmia |
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Colin Dunne[34] | 27 | 1 March 2009 | Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, Spain | Heart attack |
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Peter Curtin[35] | 23 | 10 October 2009 | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore, US | Undetermined, possible heat stroke; body temperature 107 °F (42 °C) |
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William Caviness | 35 | 9 October 2011 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Heart attack |
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Ulysses Thomas[36] | 58 | 5 November 2011 | Savannah Marathon | Savannah, US | |
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Claire Squires[37] | 30 | 22 April 2012 | London Marathon | London, UK | Heart attack, DMAA supplement |
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Xavier Jiménez[38] | 45 | 17 March 2013 | Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, Spain | Heart attack |
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Sam Harper Brighouse[39] | 23 | 14 April 2013 | Brighton Marathon | Brighton, UK | Ischemic colitis |
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R. Jacob Zeman[40] | 35 | 9 November 2013 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon | Savannah, US | "Unsuspected heart condition" |
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Robert Berry[41] | 42 | 13 April 2014 | London Marathon | London, UK | Heat stroke |
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Manases Alfon Jr.[42] | 38 | 7 February 2016 | Condura Skyway Marathon | Philippines | |
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Arnold Lubang[43] | 40 | 7 February 2016 | Condura Skyway Marathon | Philippines | Cardiac arrest |
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Mike Freeman[44] | 55 | 28 February 2016 | Vodafone Malta Marathon | Sliema, Malta | "Natural causes" |
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David Seath[45] | 31 | 24 April 2016 | London Marathon | London, UK | Heart attack |
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Rob Bremer[46] | 50 | 26 November 2017 | Curacao KLM Marathon | Curacao | Cardiac arrest |
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Matt Campbell[47] | 29 | 22 April 2018 | London Marathon | London, UK | Cardiac arrest |
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Juan Camilo Arboleda Alzate[48] | 38 | 16 September 2018 | Medellín Marathon | Medellín, Colombia | Heart attack |
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Claudio Agurto Spencer[49] | 51 | 7 April 2019 | Santiago Marathon | Santiago, Chile | Aortic dissection |
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Taylor Ceepo[50] | 22 | 19 May 2019 | Cleveland Marathon | Cleveland, US | Cardiac |
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Steve Trickett[51] | 35 | 26 May 2019 | Ottawa Marathon | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Heart Attack |
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Harry Vroulis[52] | 74 | 19 January 2020 | Houston Marathon | Houston, US | Heart attack |
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Gregory McSween | 41 | 9 November 2021 | Marine Corps Marathon | ||
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Bruno Meunier[53] | 41 | 5 June 2022 | Marathon de la Liberté | Caen, France | Heart attack |
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unnamed[54] | 69 | 3 March 2024 | Tokyo Marathon | Sumida, Tokyo | |
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Joey Fecci[55] | 26 | 27 April 2024 | Nashville Marathon | Nashville, US | "Natural causes" |
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Marco Gomes[56] | 42 | 28 April 2024 | Maratona da Europa | Aveiro, PT |