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