Of Marathons and Heart Attacks

At least six runners at major U.S. marathons have died in 2006. While some physicians wonder if there is more to the deaths than mathematical inevitability and believe that racing 26.2 miles puts a heart at risk, the overall body of evidence is strongly in favor of the idea that endurance exercise is helpful in terms of cardiac health, says one doctor. His advice for runners with any history of heart trouble is to “train for the race, getting the cardiac benefits of endurance exercise,” then watch the event on television. New York Times story.