Youth marathon runners and race day medical risk over 26 years.
OBJECTIVE
To report the number of marathon finishers younger than 18 years and race day medical encounters at the same site and to compare them with adult finishers.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
Urban 42-km road race.


METHODS
Twin Cities Marathon finishers.


METHODS
The race records from 1982 to 2007 were assessed for finishers younger than 18 years to determine the number of finishers and medical encounters, incidence of race-related medical encounters, and type and severity of medical problems.


METHODS
Age group marathon finishers and medical encounters.


RESULTS
Three hundred ten marathon (225 boys and 85 girls) aged 7 to 17 years finished the race with times ranging from 2:53:22 to 6:10:00. There were 4 medical encounters (minor in nature and required no intervention beyond a short period of rest) for an incidence of 12.9 per 1000 finishers. The odds ratio for youth compared with adult finish line medical encounters was 0.52 (P = 0.2658; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-1.39).


CONCLUSIONS
Three hundred ten youth marathon successfully finished Twin Cities Marathon over 26 years with only 4 requiring post-race medical evaluations. The relative risk of requiring acute race day medical attention was less than, but not statistically different from, adult finishers.
Roberts
William O
WO
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. rober037@umn.edu
Nicholson
William G
WG
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008910:Minnesota; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012420:Running; D012720:Severity of Illness Index