The annual Taipei Marathon, one of the nation’s most anticipated marathon events, is taking place today. In addition to elite athletes and foreign runners, each year about 28,000 people are allowed to race via a lottery draw.
The marathon boom in Taiwan began about a decade ago. There were only 42 marathons and road-running events in Taiwan in 2005, which gradually grew to 109 events in 2009 and rapidly swelled to 448 events in 2014. The number of marathons and road-running events peaked at about 700 in 2016, and there have been about 500 annual events since, excluding the past three years, in which hundreds of races were postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several of these races have made a few frightening news stories about runners suddenly collapsing — in most cases due to cardiac arrest — and being rushed to a hospital.
On Sunday last week, a woman in her 30s and a man in his 60s collapsed during the Taichung International Marathon with no vital signs, but they were revived on the way to the hospital. During the Kaohsiung Fubon Marathon on Nov. 26, a man in his 40s collapsed, but he was saved by two doctors also running in the marathon, who stopped to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him.
In the 2021 Taipei Marathon, seven participants were rushed to the hospital, including five who had cardiac arrest, but they were all eventually resuscitated.
However, in the Tianzhong Marathon in Changhua County on Nov. 12, a 48-year-old male runner died of sudden cardiac arrest.
Although some local media refer to doctors’ advice on how to prevent cardiac arrest while exercising and some medical bloggers share safety tips on social media, such information is rarely available on running events’ official Web sites, social media pages or instruction brochures.
Usually, the only health-related reminder is put on the registration page, such as the Taipei Marathon this year telling participants: “All participants must be in good health to register for the race. Do not register if there are health concerns such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc. The organizers will not be held responsible for persons concealing such conditions.”
Many races also list health issues and symptoms — such as having chest pain, chest tightness, breathing difficulty, unconsciousness or dizziness with unknown causes, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, epilepsy or kidney disorders and a family history of heart disease — that are excluded from its public liability insurance and advise people with the health conditions not to register.
In addition to these warnings, event organizers could make races safer by providing useful health tips to non-athlete participants, as pulmonologist and intensive care doctor Ooi Hean (黃軒) did on Facebook on Monday when he shared information about three signs of dehydration that runners should look out for: extreme thirst (dry mouth and throat), dizziness or lightheadedness, and heart palpitations.
Although marathon runner deaths are very rare, participants should be informed about how to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac events or other injuries.
As most participants closely follow the events’ social media pages, organizers should use these platforms to share tips to prevent cardiac arrest and safety tips, and encourage those who have health concerns to see a doctor before training for the race.
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