It is the fourth year in a row that no participants have passed away during the Comrades Marathon.
Runners at the finish of the annual Comrades Marathon. Picture: AFP
Though some runners were admitted to intensive care, Comrades Marathon race doctor Jeremy Boulter has confirmed that no participants died during the 99th edition of the annual ultra-marathon race in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday.
Boulter said on Monday that approximately 60 participants had been hospitalised, around 40 of whom were attended to along the 85.77km course, while the rest were treated at the medical tent at the finish in Pietermaritzburg before being admitted.
In total, 393 of the participants were treated in the medical tent at Scottsville Racecourse.
“The number of runners in the medical tent at the finish was lower than what we expected. Usually around 2.5% to 3% of the field are taken to the tent, so we expected 500-600 people,” said Boulter, who has been the official race doctor for the last 32 years.
“It was a large field (18 523 runners finished) and it was an up run (between Durban and Pietermaritzburg), but while it got quite warm during the day, the conditions were relatively cool in the morning and again later in the afternoon, which helped.”
Hyperthemia, a seizure and chest pains
One runner had been hospitalised for hyperthermia (overheating), which Boulter said could be a “serious condition”, while another had experienced what was believed to be a seizure.
Some of the people hospitalised had also experienced chest pains, but tests confirmed their arteries were clear and none had suffered heart attacks.
“The rest of the people were treated for the usual things we see on race day, including exhaustion and dehydration. While some of those cases were potentially serious, it seems like they are all recovering well.”
Boulter said this was the fourth year in a row that nobody had died. The last time this happened was in 2022 when two runners passed away.
“Ideally we would want to see nobody in the medical tent, but some people run the race when they shouldn’t or continue running when they should stop, so the reality is that we always have people who need to be treated and goal number one is to make sure nobody dies,” Boulter said.
“Every year we try to make improvements in our approach, but we have a pretty good system in place, and we do try to educate the runners ahead of each event. If all goes well, everybody recovers sufficiently and is able to return home in a healthy state.”
