Marathon, a traditional sport in Europe and America, has gained immense popularity in China in recent years. Over 30 cities, including Beijing, Xiamen, Dalian, Lanzhou, and Guangzhou, now host their own marathon events. However, the fatality at the Guangzhou Marathon suddenly made people alert—turns out long-distance running is also a high-risk sport.
The ripple effect was quick to follow. Universities in Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, and other cities canceled long-distance running events in their sports meets citing "safety concerns," while many primary and secondary schools across the country also dropped such activities from their physical education classes. Chinese attitudes toward long-distance running have swung from one extreme to the other.
In the 2004 Beijing Marathon, there was already an incident of a participant dying suddenly, but that mishap didn’t affect the rapid growth of marathon running in China. The fatality during the inaugural Guangzhou Marathon, however, suddenly triggered unprecedented scrutiny of long-distance running. In the face of such a sudden loss of life, it’s essential and appropriate to reflect on and reassess our approach to this sport.
According to authoritative international statistics, the fatality rate in marathon events is one in 50,000, which is why marathons, along with racing, judo, skiing, and combat sports, are considered high-risk activities.
Experts say that participants in marathons need to undergo long-term, professional training. The fatalities in the Beijing and Guangzhou marathons both occurred among amateur runners. Experts also note that marathons require highly professional rescue and medical measures. Tokyo Marathon, with its meticulous safety protocols, has seen no fatalities since 2007. These expert opinions and suggestions are effective ways to help avoid and reduce accidents in marathon races.
But we should also recognize that even professional marathon runners can die suddenly during races. In 2007, American marathon champion Ryan Shay died during the Olympic marathon trials. In 2001, Spanish marathon star Diego García suffered a fatal heart attack during training. Moreover, experts have pointed out that the survival rate for cardiac arrest during marathons is extremely low. This means that if you choose to run long distances, there is inherent risk, and no amount of preparation or protection can completely eliminate the possibility of accidents.
Faced with such risks to life, what kind of attitude should we adopt toward long-distance running?
Some universities and primary and secondary schools in China have chosen to abandon middle- and long-distance running. This isn’t limited to just running—many schools have also removed pommel horses, parallel bars, high jump, and even soccer from their PE curricula. Schools fear injuries, parents fear injuries, and students fear injuries... These fears are the main reasons why many sports are inaccessible to students. While many schools successfully avoid injuries from high-risk sports by dropping them, we’re also faced with a harsher reality: the physical fitness of primary and secondary school students is declining.
Marathon, as a high-risk sport, has thrived in Europe and America for so long because it is a simple yet effective form of exercise, delivering significant benefits to participants' physical strength, endurance, and mental fortitude. As more Chinese cities considering hosting marathons hold back and many schools openly reject long-distance running, their attitudes seem overly sensitive and negative compared to the more relaxed approaches seen in Western countries.
This is actually a passive avoidance mentality. Rousseau once said, "Life is not just breathing, life is movement." Most sports carry risks, and given that the role of sports in enhancing physical ability and strengthening willpower is irreplaceable, avoiding them altogether out of fear of accidents could come at an even greater cost.
German psychologist Fritz Riemann wrote in his book "Facing the Fear Within" that we can only try to cultivate the strength to counter (fear)... These efforts can help us accept fear, analyze it, and fight it with indomitable spirit. When it comes to sports, facing the risks head-on and taking proactive protective measures is the healthy and positive attitude. Avoidance is definitely not the best solution.
The 2,500-year-old marathon originated from someone’s death, but the story of delivering news of a military victory is not a tragedy. Remember before the Beijing Olympics, there was a popular Olympic trivia question across the country: What was the spirit slogan of the ancient Olympics? "Either win the laurel or die trying."
Just a few days ago, a 21-year-old life came to an end at the 10-kilometer finish line of the inaugural Guangzhou International Marathon, a truly heartbreaking event. Chen Jie completed the 10-kilometer run in 100 minutes—he clearly wasn’t aiming for the laurel, probably more to challenge himself, but ultimately paid with his life. Reports indicated that Chen felt unwell after the 5-kilometer mark, though he had been able to post updates on Weibo during the first half. "Finished 5 kilometers!” was his final post. One can imagine—if he had stopped to seek medical help when he first felt discomfort, the tragedy could have been entirely avoided.
Life lies in movement—this famous saying may be known to all, but not everyone understands that exercise isn’t about risking your life. On the flip side, this is also the root cause of several recent major sports-related "news stories."
Huang Yubin, head coach of China’s gymnastics team, was very displeased with schools canceling gymnastics classes, but he cleverly used the national soccer team as an example: "Look at Chinese soccer players—they score a goal and can’t even do a backflip..." Huazhong University of Science and Technology temporarily canceled the men’s 5,000-meter and women’s 3,000-meter events from its sports meet, citing "these events have too high physical demands on students and we’re afraid of injuries..."
Discarding sports like old shoes and treating certain events like monsters has become a major flaw in China’s current school education system. Clearly, educators are directly equating sports with life-threatening activities. Even under the requirement to ensure one hour of daily physical activity, schools prefer having students do exercises with music while holding soccer balls, rather than letting dozens of kids chase a single ball across the field.
The death of the ancient Greek "swift-footed" Pheidippides gave birth to the legend of the marathon. Chen Jie’s passing serves as a wake-up call for the increasingly frequent large-scale marathons in China, and also prompts us to reflect again on the serious issue of declining physical fitness among Chinese youth.
But what I hope most is that "death" doesn’t become a stumbling block for ordinary people to join marathons or engage in sports. If you’re not afraid of the 250 times higher fatality rate of traffic accidents compared to marathons, and still choose to drive, then the question of "to run or not to run" shouldn’t be a dilemma for you.
Ma Zhenguo: No need to panic, know your limits
Yesterday morning, regarding the discussion sparked by the fatality at the Guangzhou Marathon, a reporter interviewed Ma Zhenguo, director of the Dalian Institute of Sports Science (referred to as the Sports Science Institute) and a researcher. Ma has served as the medical head of the Dalian International Marathon Organizing Committee since 2000 and is also the city’s leading expert in sports medicine research. He believes there’s no need to panic over marathon fatalities, and that ordinary people should participate in marathons according to their own limits.
Chen Jie died of "exhaustion"
The official cause of Chen Jie’s death was cardiogenic shock, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, ventricular fibrillation, and sudden death. Ma Zhenguo, who frequently gives science-based fitness lectures in communities, prefers a simpler explanation: "died from exhaustion." "It’s truly regrettable when young people die suddenly during sports—it’s largely due to insufficient self-protection awareness," Ma said. "Challenging oneself also has its limits. Many believe that breaking through limits leads to a ‘second wind,’ but in reality, only professional athletes can experience that ‘second wind.’"
The Sports Science Institute once conducted autonomic nervous system experiments on our city’s cyclists after high-intensity workouts, and the research report was presented at the Olympic Science and Technology Conference held alongside the Beijing Olympics. The results showed that even those with athletic foundations can experience extreme autonomic nervous system disorder and physical exhaustion after sudden, intense exercise, leading to organ failure—especially the heart—and thus death. "When your legs cramp from running, your heart can cramp too. Ventricular fibrillation is essentially a heart cramp," Ma explained. "So during a marathon, leg cramps are a danger signal, as is difficulty breathing. Continuing under these conditions can severely endanger your life."
Those in the industry all know that marathon-related injuries or even deaths are "a global challenge," but they are not unavoidable. Ma Zhenguo stated that every year before the Dalian International Marathon, the organizing committee conducts extensive awareness campaigns through participant handbooks and media, and the comprehensive medical emergency measures during the race are key reasons for the event’s smooth execution in recent years. He also emphasized that for participants themselves, "knowing your limits" is the most crucial factor.
"Participants in full marathons should have had continuous, regular, and sufficient basic training for at least the past three months. Even if you’ve trained, those who catch a cold or other acute illness a week before the race, or who drank excessively three days prior, should not compete," Ma said. "Many college students cram in a month of intense training right before the race—that won’t work. That’s when the body’s fatigue peaks, and competing then easily leads to danger."
For daily fitness, Ma’s advice is: if you can’t run 1,000 meters, run 500; start short and build up. People over 45 can replace running with brisk walking to reduce joint and organ stress from running impacts, while still achieving similar fitness benefits.
Wang Junxia: Don’t demonize long-distance running
After the fatality at the Guangzhou Marathon, many believe it reflects declining national physical fitness. But Olympic champion Wang Junxia, who has been promoting healthy running since retiring, sees it differently: "All high-intensity sports carry risks, and marathons are no exception. Dying during a marathon can’t simply be attributed to physical weakness. Most marathon fatalities are due to heart attacks—the increase in exercise intensity can trigger cardiovascular diseases, which are the most critical factors in sports-related sudden deaths."
Regarding the frequent incidents of athletes collapsing and dying during marathons, Wang Junxia believes that marathon running places extremely high demands on physical fitness. Such an overload activity that challenges both physiological and psychological limits can easily lead to the exhaustion of bodily functions, making sudden deaths during races quite common. "Amateur runners often exercise little, and inadequate warm-up before the race can lead to physical issues. It's common in races to see those without systematic training simply following the pack. This kind of overload is actually very dangerous. Professional athletes usually run according to their own training pace, often using a watch to monitor it. Of course, sudden deaths also happen among professionals, but in the vast majority of cases, it's because the athlete already had underlying health issues they were unaware of, which were then triggered by the marathon," Wang Junxia analyzed.
So, how can such tragedies be prevented? Wang Junxia pointed out: "People who don’t exercise regularly should not participate in full marathons. If you want to run a 10-kilometer race, you should prepare for at least half a year in advance, gradually increasing your exercise load based on your physical condition. Even for professional athletes, it’s best to participate in no more than two marathons a year, because each race requires about six months of recovery, gradual mileage buildup, and intensity increases. In addition, pre-race warm-ups must be thorough. When I was a professional athlete, I usually spent over half an hour warming up—doing things like a 5,000-meter slow jog, stretching, and deep breathing—to gradually bring my heart rate to race level."
After the unfortunate incident at the Guangzhou Marathon, many people are now fearful of running. Regarding this, Wang Junxia stated: "Although sports can sometimes cause certain harm to the body, the risks are low, and the benefits are real. So, don’t demonize long-distance running. The marathon isn’t the problem—it’s only by running with clarity and ease that the sport can shed its shadow and return to its healthy roots. Amateur marathon runners need a foundation of consistent, long-term training. When participating in races, they should act within their capabilities and progress step by step, never running blindly. Event organizers should also strengthen safety awareness before races and consider mandating medical check-up reports from participants. Only then can we effectively manage risk at its core." Reported by our correspondent Yang Dawei
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Sudden Deaths in Marathons in Recent Years
Completing a marathon was once seen as a symbol of good physical strength and health. However, reports of marathon runners collapsing and dying mid-race appear almost every year. In the words of industry insiders, marathon-related injuries or even deaths are "a global challenge."
Sudden death incidents in marathon races in recent years:
● In 2012, during the 16th Hong Kong International Marathon, a male runner collapsed after finishing the race and was confirmed dead after being taken to the hospital. In the same year, at the London Marathon in the UK, a 30-year-old woman collapsed less than 1 kilometer from the finish line and later died despite resuscitation efforts.
● In 2011, at the Philadelphia Marathon in the United States, two participants died of sudden cardiac arrest—one was a 21-year-old Asian man who collapsed at the finish line, and the other was a 40-year-old white man who fell 400 meters from the finish. Both were taken to nearby hospitals, where doctors pronounced them dead due to sudden heart attacks.
● In 2010, at the Silver Strand Half Marathon in San Diego, USA, a 32-year-old Chinese participant suddenly collapsed and fell into a coma less than 1 kilometer from the finish. He was taken to the hospital but later died despite resuscitation efforts.
● In 2009, a tragic scene unfolded during the 32nd Detroit Marathon: three participants died suddenly during the race.
● In 2008, the Shanghai International Marathon gave marathon enthusiasts a chance to shine. However, after the spirited event, came the bad news: a graduate student from East China University of Political Science and Law collapsed during the half marathon and later died despite attempts to save him.
● In 2007, 28-year-old American marathon champion Ryan Shay died suddenly during the New York City Marathon.
● In 2006, the Hong Kong International Marathon, which had 40,000 participants, resulted in one death, 22 hospitalizations, and 4,800 cases of muscle cramps.
● In 2005, at the Beijing International Marathon and the 6th Capital Universities Marathon Challenge, a college student collapsed at around the 27-kilometer mark and later died despite rescue efforts that day.
● In 2004, during the Beijing International Marathon, 13 participants were rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. Two men died suddenly, one of whom was a student from Beijing Jiaotong University.
Medical experts say that the most common cause of sudden death is heart disease. Experts advise that before participating in high-intensity competitions, individuals should assess their own health status. Those with a family history of heart disease should undergo specialized cardiac examinations, such as electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, and 24-hour Holter monitoring. Patients who have experienced fainting spells should undergo thorough medical evaluations before engaging in sports. Those who haven’t fully recovered from a cold should avoid strenuous exercise.