22-Year Old London Marathoner Dies After 3hr 50min Finish
David Rogers finished the London Marathon in 3hr and 50min, before collapsing, just past the finish line. He then died of a rare condition, usually linked to over-hydration, called hyponatraemia. It’s characterized as a lack of sodium in the bloodstream. We’re sorry for his loved ones and their loss. Hopefully his death was not in vain, and other athletes will learn more about how to hydrate as a result.
Ironically, The London Marathon was blasted by critics this year for running out of water on the course. Some runners had no other choice than to drink water from discarded bottles on the course, or to go off course and buy water themselves.
Further Reading:
Marathon Kills Runner, Age 22 - The Sun
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POSTED IN: Morning News
4 opinions for 22-Year Old London Marathoner Dies After 3hr 50min Finish
sherwin
Apr 25, 2007 at 10:39 am
Hyponatraemia is not rare. Neither are deaths like this. I just read a study where they tested Boston Marathoners right after the marathon and a large portion had varying levels of hyponatraemia.
Wade Meredith
Apr 26, 2007 at 8:10 am
I’m going to declare shenannigans on ya’, Shermin. It is a rare condition. Go ask 100 people on the street what hyponatraemia is and see how many correct answers you get. Or ask an Emergency room crew how many cases of it they see on a per-year basis.
And as far as your study goes, I don’t doubt it, but testing Boston Marathoners after a race may be the only group of people in the world where you would find this condition in anything but the smallest percentages of your test group.
ACBR
Apr 26, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Couldn’t some Gatorade have helped him or something?
MD/PhD student
Jan 13, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’m a physician in training (and an endurance runner) and while you can get hyponatremia from over hydrating, in athletes, it’s more common from hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating) without adequate replacement of electrolytes. Meaning after about mile 5 in a marathon, one should avoid drinking water and instead hydrate with gatorade/ some other electrolyte-containing sports drink and salt tablets/ salty foods.
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