List of marathon fatalities

Below is a sortable list of individuals who died as a result of running a marathon.

Causes of death during the marathon

The most frequent causes are:

1. sudden cardiac death, triggered by a congenital or acquired heart disorder;
2. exercise-associated hyponatremia or other electrolyte imbalance;
3. exertional heat stroke or severe hyperthermia.

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]

List

Origin	Name [ref.]	Age	Marathon date	Event	Location	Cause / Notes
POR	Francisco Lázaro[4]	24	15 July 1912	Olympic Marathon	Stockholm, Sweden	Electrolyte imbalance
SUI	Jakob Jutz[5]	35-36	26 August 1951	Swiss Athletics Federation Marathon Championships	Cham, Switzerland	Heart failure
FRA	Jacques Bussereau[6]	48	28 October 1984	New York City Marathon	New York City, US	Heart attack
GBR	Duncan Kerr[7]	28	22 September 1985	Glasgow Marathon	Glasgow, UK	Pneumonia
USA	Martin A. Wurst, Jr.[8]	32	2 November 1986	Marine Corps Marathon	Washington, D.C., US	Coronary artery disease
USA	Edwin Brown[9]	47	14 December 1986	Dallas Marathon	Dallas, US	Heart attack
USA	Thomas Becker[10]	40	8 October 1989	Twin Cities Marathon	Minneapolis, US	Heart attack
USA	William McKinney[11]	59	4 March 1990	Los Angeles Marathon	Los Angeles, US	Heart attack
USA	Lisa B. Christensen[12]	19	4 November 1990	Marine Corps Marathon	Washington, D.C., US	Coronary artery abnormality
USA	Julius Becza[13]	58	24 October 1993	Marine Corps Marathon	Washington, D.C., US	Heart attack
USA	Samuel Grafton[14]	42	16 October 1994	Detroit Marathon	Detroit, US	Heart attack
SWI	Pierre Marguet[15]	27	6 November 1994	New York City Marathon	New York City, US	Heart attack; also for an unnamed second fatality
SWE	Humphrey Siesage[16]	61	15 April 1996	Boston Marathon	Boston, US	Heart attack
GBR	Anna Loyley[17][18]	26	8 March 1998	Bath Half Marathon	London, UK	Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome
USA	Kelly Barrett[19]	43	11 October 1998	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, US	Hyponatremia
GBR	Don Scott[20]	48	26 September 1999	Robin Hood Marathon	Nottingham, UK	Heart attack
USA	Danny Towns[19]	45	22 October 2000	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, US	Heart attack
USA	Luke Roach[19]	22	7 October 2001	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, US	Heat stroke
USA	Laura M. Clancy[21]	29	20 October 2001	Baltimore Marathon	Baltimore, US	Brain aneurysm
ECU	Cynthia Lucero[22]	28	15 April 2002	Boston Marathon	Boston, US	Hyponatremia
USA	Hilary Bellamy[22]	35	27 October 2002	Marine Corps Marathon	Washington, D.C., US	Hyponatremia
GBR	Craig Johanson[20]	28	14 September 2003	Robin Hood Marathon	Nottingham, UK	Cardiac arrhythmia
USA	Rachael Townsend[23]	29	12 October 2003	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, US	Mitral valve prolapse
USA	James Leone[11]	60	19 March 2006	Los Angeles Marathon	Los Angeles, US	Heart attack
USA	Raul Reyna[11]	53	19 March 2006	Los Angeles Marathon	Los Angeles, US	Heart attack
USA	William Goggins[24]	43	30 July 2006	San Francisco Marathon	San Francisco, US	Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
USA	George Spears, Sr.[25]	49	1 October 2006	Twin Cities Marathon	Minneapolis, US	Heart attack
USA	Earl Seyford[26]	56	29 October 2006	Marine Corps Marathon	Washington, D.C., US	Heart attack
USA	Marc Witkes[27]	40	10 December 2006	Tucson Marathon	Tucson, US	Congenital heart abnormalities
GBR	David Rogers[28]	22	22 April 2007	London Marathon	London, UK	Hyponatremia
USA	Chad Schieber[29]	35	7 October 2007	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, US	Mitral valve prolapse
USA	Ryan Shay[30]	28	3 November 2007	USA Marathon Championships	New York City, US	Cardiac arrhythmia
USA	Adam Nickel[31]	27	2 March 2008	Little Rock Marathon	Little Rock, US	Coronary artery abnormality; electrolyte imbalance
BRA	Carlos Jose Gomes[32]	58	2 November 2008	New York City Marathon	New York City, US	Heart attack
USA	Joseph Marotta[32]	66	2 November 2008	New York City Marathon	New York City, US	Heart attack
USA	Fred Costa[32]	41	2 November 2008	New York City Marathon	New York City, US	Heart attack
USA	Erin Lahr[33]	29	14 December 2008	Dallas Marathon	Dallas, US	Cardiac arrhythmia
IRE	Colin Dunne[34]	27	1 March 2009	Barcelona Marathon	Barcelona, Spain	Heart attack
USA	Peter Curtin[35]	23	10 October 2009	Baltimore Marathon	Baltimore, US	Undetermined, possible heat stroke; body temperature 107 °F (42 °C)
USA	William Caviness	35	9 October 2011	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, US	Heart attack
USA	Ulysses Thomas[36]	58	5 November 2011	Savannah Marathon	Savannah, US
GBR	Claire Squires[37]	30	22 April 2012	London Marathon	London, UK	Heart attack, DMAA supplement
ESP	Xavier Jiménez[38]	45	17 March 2013	Barcelona Marathon	Barcelona, Spain	Heart attack
GBR	Sam Harper Brighouse[39]	23	14 April 2013	Brighton Marathon	Brighton, UK	Ischemic colitis
USA	R. Jacob Zeman[40]	35	9 November 2013	Rock 'n' Roll Marathon	Savannah, US	"Unsuspected heart condition"
GBR	Robert Berry[41]	42	13 April 2014	London Marathon	London, UK	Heat stroke
PHI	Manases Alfon Jr.[42]	38	7 February 2016	Condura Skyway Marathon	Philippines
PHI	Arnold Lubang[43]	40	7 February 2016	Condura Skyway Marathon	Philippines	Cardiac arrest
GBR	Mike Freeman[44]	55	28 February 2016	Vodafone Malta Marathon	Sliema, Malta	"Natural causes"
GBR	David Seath[45]	31	24 April 2016	London Marathon	London, UK	Heart attack
NED	Rob Bremer[46]	50	26 November 2017	Curacao KLM Marathon	Curacao	Cardiac arrest
GBR	Matt Campbell[47]	29	22 April 2018	London Marathon	London, UK	Cardiac arrest
GBR	Juan Camilo Arboleda Alzate[48]	38	16 September 2018	Maratón Medellin	Medellín, Colombia	Heart attack
CHI	Claudio Agurto Spencer[49]	51	7 April 2019	Santiago Marathon	Santiago, Chile	Aortic dissection
USA	Taylor Ceepo[50]	22	19 May 2019	Cleveland Marathon	Cleveland, US	Cardiac
CAN	Steve Trickett[51]	35	26 May 2019	Ottawa Marathon	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	Heart Attack
USA	Harry Vroulis[52]	74	19 January 2020	Houston Marathon	Houston, US	Heart attack
USA	Gregory McSween	41	9 November 2021	Marine Corps Marathon
FRA	Bruno Meunier[53]	41	5 June 2022	Marathon de la Liberté	Caen, France	Heart attack
JPN	unnamed[54]	69	3 March 2024	Tokyo Marathon	Sumida, Tokyo
USA	Joey Fecci[55]	26	27 April 2024	Nashville Marathon	Nashville, US	"Natural causes"
POR	Marco Gomes[56]	42	28 April 2024	Maratona da Europa	Aveiro, PT

Non-health-related marathon fatalities

Country	Event	Deaths	Date
Sri Lanka	Weliveriya bombing	15	5 April 2008
USA	Boston Marathon bombing	3	15 April 2013
China	Gansu ultramarathon disaster	21	22 May 2021

References

1. Waite, Oliver; Smith, Andy; Madge, Luke; Spring, Hannah; Noret, Nathalie (January 2016). "Sudden cardiac death in marathons: a systematic review" (PDF). The Physician and Sportsmedicine. 44 (1): 79–84. doi:10.1080/00913847.2016.1135036. PMID 26765272. S2CID 36458482.
2. "Marathoners Warned About Too Much Water", The New York Times, 20 October 2005.
3. Armstrong, Lawrence E.; Casa, Douglas J.; Millard-Stafford, Mindy; Moran, Daniel S.; Pyne, Scott W.; Roberts, William O.; Roberts, W. O. (March 2007). "American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Exertional heat illness during training and competition". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 39 (3): 556–572. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31802fa199. PMID 17473783.
4. "Francisco Lázaro, a emborcação no treino", Fórum Olímpico de Portugal.
5. "In memoriam Jakob Jutz" (in German).
6. "The splendor of the New York City Marathon was...", UPI, 29 October 1984.
7. "Can Running Kill?", Scotland's Runner, August 1986.
8. "Marine Who Died During Marathon Here Had Undiagnosed Heart Ailment", The Washington Post, 4 November 1986.
9. "Dallas White Rock Marathon: The Seventeenth Annual Running"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, December 1986.
10. "Runner dies after finishing", St. Cloud Times, 9 October 1989.
11. "Exuberance of L.A. Marathon Tempered by Runners' Deaths", Los Angeles Times, 20 March 2006.
12. "Marathon's No Random Killer, But No Running From Death", Washington Post, 12 November 1990.
13. "Runner's Heart Attack Was Waiting to Happen", The Washington Post, 30 October 1993.
14. "Runner, 42, collapses and dies", Detroit Free Press, 17 October 1994.
15. "New York City Marathon: Two Runners Are Dead From Cardiac Arrest", The New York Times, 7 November 1994. "A second runner, a man approximately 45 years old whose name was not released by St. Luke's Hospital or marathon officials, also died."
16. "Heartbreak Hill Claims Another Victim", Associated Press, 16 April 1996.
17. "First aid charity sued over death of runner". www.telegraph.co.uk. 8 October 2000. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
18. Pedoe, Dan Tunstall (2000-04-01). "Sudden cardiac death in sport—spectre or preventable risk?". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 34 (2): 137–140. doi:10.1136/bjsm.34.2.137. ISSN 0306-3674. PMC 1724190. PMID 10786871.
19. "How marathons can kill you", Chicago Sun-Times, 6 October 2002.
20. "Marathon death man named", BBC, 15 September 2003.
21. "Marathon Runner Collapses, Dies", The Baltimore Sun, 11 October 2009.
22. "Too Much of a Good Thing", The Washington Times, 23 October 2003.
23. "Coach copes with wife's death", The Columbus Dispatch, 27 January 2004.
24. "The Fit Man's Heart Threat", Men's Health, 23 August 2007.
25. "Man who died in Twin Cities Marathon was experienced runner", Associated Press, 2 October 2006.
26. "Runner collapses, dies during Marine Corps Marathon", Associated Press, 30 October 2006.
27. "Man who died in marathon had congenital heart disease", Tucson Citizen, 23 January 2007.
28. "Marathon victim died from drinking too MUCH water". 13 April 2012.
29. "Autopsy: Man who died in Chicago Marathon had heart condition", Associated Press, 8 October 2007.
30. "Ryan Shay dies in U.S. Olympic marathon trials", USA Today, 3 November 2007.
31. "Doctors: Ark. marathon runner died of rare mix of heart condition, electrolyte abnormalities", Associated Press, 7 April 2008.
32. "Secrets of the New York City Marathon". amNewYork. 4 November 2016.
33. "Heart condition caused White Rock Marathon runner's death", The Dallas Morning News, 2 March 2009.
34. "Teacher dies from heart attack during marathon", The Independent, 2 March 2009.
35. "Runner Was MIT Student; N.C. Native Died During The Baltimore Marathon Saturday", The Baltimore Sun, 13 October 2009.
36. "Marathon runner was 'picture of health,' wife says", Savannah Morning News, 9 November 2011.
37. "Claire Squires inquest: DMAA was factor in marathon runner's death", BBC, 30 January 2013.
38. "Muere un atleta en el maratón de Barcelona", El Periódico de Aragón, 17 March 2013.
39. "Brighton marathon runner died from bowel failure", The Guardian, 28 August 2013.
40. "Mr. Robert Jacob (Jake) Zeman obituary", Tributes.com, 11 November 2013.
41. "London marathon runner died yards from finish after his body overheated", London Evening Standard, 28 August 2014.
42. " Archived 2017-11-12 at the Wayback Machine, ABS-CBN Sports, 8 February 2016.
43. ", Rappler, 8 February 2016.
44. "Marathon runner died of natural causes – police", Times of Malta, 1 March 2016.
45. "London Marathon runner David Seath dies after collapsing near finish line", The Guardian, 25 April 2016.
46. "Runner dies during KLM marathon", Antilliaans Dagblad, 27 November 2017.
47. "London Marathon: Masterchef semi-finalist Matt Campbell dies", BBC News, 22 April 2017.
48. "Juan Camilo Arboleda, profesor universitario murió de un paro en Media Maratón de Medellín". Semena. September 16, 2018.
49. "Murió maratonista en la Marathon De Santiago". El Mostrador. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
50. Livingston, Doug. "Woman, 22, dies in Cleveland Marathon; soccer player was graduate of St. V-M and Walsh University". Akron Beacon Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
51. Duffy, Andrew. "Her husband died in 2019 Ottawa marathon. This year, she'll be on the start line". Ottawa Citizen.
52. McCord, Cory (21 January 2020). "Runner dies after suffering heart attack during 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon". khou.com.
53. "Le Marathon de la Liberté à Caen endeuillé par la mort d'un participant". franceinfo. June 5, 2022.
54. "東京マラソンで転倒した69歳の男性亡くなる 主催財団が発表 2007年開催から初の死者：東京新聞 TOKYO Web". 東京新聞 TOKYO Web (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-03-09.
55. "Nashville chef, 26, identified as runner who died in St. Jude marathon". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
56. "Homem que morreu na maratona de Aveiro era técnico de futsal: "Chocante"". noticiasaominuto (in European Portuguese). 29 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-01.

Further reading

• Burfoot, Amby. "Are marathons dangerous?", Runner's World, 3 November 2008.
• English, Joe. "Why do runners die during marathons?", Running-Advice.com, 13 March 2008.
• Noakes, Tim. "Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports", Human Kinetics, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4504-2497-4.