Ban Marathons

gramar

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

ohnonotgmail

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

Are they forcing people to run in these marathons?

Gavlor

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

Really?

Ban swimming, cycling, hill walking, gaa, soccer, rugby also?

All of the above have suffered from participant deaths.

biko

How about you don't try to ban something that doesn't concern you in the slightest?

Skylinehead

Ban old age!

smash

This is going to turn in to the MMA thread all over again. I think that's OP's wishes though...

Lurkio

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

Unless they're making it compulsory I'm not seeing your point.

valoren

I would imagine that the deaths were exacerbated by a pre-existing, perhaps undiagnosed, medical condition?
If you were aware of having a physical condition, then yes, Marathon's are risky.

RIGHTisRIGHT

sugarman wrote: »

Didn't they change the name to snickers about 25yrs ago?

Yes but I still say ban them they are still just as full of nuts.

Thoie

How about instead of banning them, you submit a letter from your GP saying you're fit to do it, and you won't be allowed run without it?

valoren

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

It's the training for a marathon that is the hard part. Months and Months spent training and preparing. Should running/jogging be banned? The marathon itself should not be an 'excessive effort' provided you have prepared adequately and pace yourself accordingly.

What's the size of the field for the London Marathon? 40,000?

One person died unfortunately. 0.000025% of the field.

Hardly a compelling argument for an outright ban.

RIGHTisRIGHT

valoren wrote: »

It's the training for a marathon that is the hard part. Months and Months spent training and preparing. Should running/jogging be banned? The marathon itself should not be an 'excessive effort' provided you have prepared adequately and pace yourself accordingly.

Will you go away with that kind of comment.
We want a bit of outrage and not have it interrupted by common sense like that.

And for goodness sake won't somebody think of the children.:D

Alf Stewart.

Last time I entered a marathon I was picking peanuts from my foreskin for a week afterwards. :mad:

Duggy747

I agree as someone who is allergic to exercise...

biko

Tbh, we're all adults and life will sometimes be cut short.

Stop trying to mollycuddle everything and live a little!

ThinkProgress

It's an extreme sport. Just like skydiving, bullfighting, mma etc etc

I think people will always feel compelled to do these things. Once people are educated and know the risks... then in a sense it really is their choice!

This is a very interesting ted talk from a cardiologist regarding extreme exercise. Worth a watch.

HensVassal

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Last time I entered a marathon I was picking peanuts from my foreskin for a week afterwards. :mad:

Why didn't you just let the dog suck them out?

gctest50

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

London Marathon ?

you mean warm-up-lap


http://i.imgur.com/AX6L42X.jpg



the 135-mile course winds through Death Valley, the hottest spot in the U.S., it takes place during July, the hottest month.
And from its origin at Badwater Basin to the slopes of Mount Whitney, the course gains 13,000 feet of elevation, crossing two mountain ranges.
It’s a non-stop race, meaning you have to run from the lowest point in the United States to the base of the highest in one go.

ScumLord

ThinkProgress wrote: »

It's an extreme sport. Just like skydiving, bullfighting, mma etc etc

I wouldn't say it's an extreme sport. Maybe some people take it to extremes but the human body was almost made for running, arguably more so than we are for walking. So I don't think doing what we evolved to do can be considered an extreme sport. A marathon could probably have been an average morning to a stone age hunter.

It's more likely people pushing themselves to much. There are plenty of fitness fanatics that push themselves above and beyond, don't eat right because they're following some trendy diet, don't rest themselves because they think they need to constantly push and then use some stupid alternative therapy when things go wrong.

Clearlier

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

Many more people died yesterday while sitting in a chair. Given that so many people die while sitting in chairs and indeed lying in bed is it time that sitting in chairs and lying in beds were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive inactivity is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority

traprunner

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

Ban people sitting in front of TV's or computers all they time. Lack of activity kills more people and adds to the healthcare costs of the nation.

jayo26

At least they died doing something they choose to do. What's the point in living longer but not been allowed do what you want with yourself???

Chips Lovell

Marathon running is hardly an extreme sport. Look at the Dublin Marathon alone, which regularly gets 10,000+ entrants.

You're setting the bar very low if you regard anything an ordinary Joe can do after a few months training as "extreme".

Harry Palmr

Marathon running is interesting for the way its marketed - as a glorified fun-run which lulls people who are clearly not fit enough to compete into running themselves into a coronary/seizure/stroke dressed in a furry animal costume.

jaykay74

gramar wrote: »

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

You are not of that opinion.

faceman

Its not the marathon bit that needs to be banned. It's the pre marathon crap we have to listen to by people in training reminding us they're training for a bloody marathon.

Pherekydes

gramar wrote: »

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

I'm of the opinion that such excessive effort is borderline abuse and should be avoided by the vast majority.

A person was killed on the N4 this morning. We should ban all driving.

Harry Palmr

Pherekydes wrote: »

A person was killed on the N4 this morning. We should ban all driving.

That would end the economy as we know it, marathon running is a silly pastime/obsession

nhunter100

gramar wrote:

After the death of a participant in the London Marathon yesterday and two deaths in a marathon held in Alicante just two weeks ago is it time that marathons were banned?

After several hundred road deaths last year, should we ban cars?

madalig12

The vast majority do avoid doing marathons. Now go back to your sofa.

Pherekydes

valoren wrote: »

What's the size of the field for the London Marathon? 40,000?

One person died unfortunately. 0.000025% of the field.

I'm feeling weak...

...I might die at any moment.

Someone please ban the above comment.

AnonoBoy

Don't you hate pants?

Pherekydes

Harry Palmr wrote: »

That would end the economy as we know it, marathon running is a silly pastime/obsession

The organisers (of any big city marathon) would claim that the marathon is part of the economy.

Harry Palmr

Yeah about 0.00001% of the London economy I'd say. A typical match day in the Premier League is worth multiples of the LCM

ThinkProgress

ScumLord wrote: »

I wouldn't say it's an extreme sport. Maybe some people take it to extremes but the human body was almost made for running, arguably more so than we are for walking. So I don't think doing what we evolved to do can be considered an extreme sport. A marathon could probably have been an average morning to a stone age hunter.

It's more likely people pushing themselves to much. There are plenty of fitness fanatics that push themselves above and beyond, don't eat right because they're following some trendy diet, don't rest themselves because they think they need to constantly push and then use some stupid alternative therapy when things go wrong.

The first ever marathon runner in history died after completing that distance. (not the most encouraging of starts to a sport) :P

I don't agree we were born to run. And I have read that book btw.

I think we were born to move - frequently. At a variety of different speeds. We may have been required to run occasionally, or climb a tree, or lift something heavy... and rest if we could when we got too tired.

We are the swiss army knife of the animal kingdom. I don't think most of us were really specialists at anything in particular. (except maybe specialists at adapting and changing frequently)

You could quite easily say we were born to climb, because we evolved from primates... but again, that would be an over-simplification of what we are just like that "born to run" nonsense! (no offence)

RIGHTisRIGHT

I think we should ban all births 100% of the time is leads to death.
Life is a terminal condition in itself.

MonkieSocks

ThinkProgress wrote: »

It's an extreme sport. Just like skydiving, bullfighting, mma etc etc

I think people will always feel compelled to do these things. Once people are educated and know the risks... then in a sense it really is their choice!

This is a very interesting ted talk from a cardiologist regarding extreme exercise. Worth a watch.

He's spot on.

Very imformative.

I did a lot of Marathons in the 1980s up to the late 90s.

A lot of the people I knew who did them also all have had some type of Cardiac issues and bad hips and knees from it.

I see them now in their late 50s and early 60s shuffling around like 80 Year olds and wondering what went wrong.

We all thought we were improving our fitness levels at the time, but didn't know the long term effect it was having on our bodies.

Another good link here.

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/1539611/Marathon-Running-Done-Over-Many-Years-Bad-For-Heart

Moderate exercise and a good diet free from processed foods.

Not Smoking and not too much Alchol is the best you can do for your body.

RIGHTisRIGHT

Looks like these runners can't even get a drink of water.

recylingbin

I wouldn't ban them, but I'd certainly get them to f#ck off and do it somewhere that wouldn't involve bringing a city centre to a standstill for a day.

jiltloop

Thoie wrote: »

How about instead of banning them, you submit a letter from your GP saying you're fit to do it, and you won't be allowed run without it?

How about everybody acknowledges that there are risks in everything you do and you should take the chances you want to take and let everyone else live their life and take the chances they want to take too? We already live in a nanny state, no need to keep banning things.

nhunter100

ThinkProgress wrote:

The first ever marathon runner in history died after completing that distance. (not the most encouraging of starts to a sport)

Do you mean the Greek soldier in ancient times. He ran a little bit further than 26.2 miles tbh closer to 150 miles. the modern equivalent is Spartalon.

ScumLord

ThinkProgress wrote: »

We are the swiss army knife of the animal kingdom. I don't think most of us were really specialists at anything in particular. (except maybe specialists at adapting and changing frequently)

We have specialised for running though. Things like our achilles tendon are unique to humans among primates and its major contribution is to act like a spring storing and releasing energy making it easier to (specifically) run. There are all sorts of adaptations in our spine and other parts of the body that make us particularly good at running for great distances. Over the course of a marathons distance a (fit) human can outrun a horse, on a hot day.

Maximus Alexander

valoren wrote: »

What's the size of the field for the London Marathon? 40,000?

One person died unfortunately. 0.000025% of the field.

You'd actually expect one out of 40,000 people to die on a given day even if they stayed at home.

64,000,000 people in the UK.
Around 500,000 deaths each year.
500,000 / 365 = 1370 deaths a day.
0.85 deaths per 40,000 people per day.

It's actually surprising that people don't die more often during the London marathon.

ThinkProgress

MonkieSocks wrote: »

He's spot on.

Very imformative.

I did a lot of Marathons in the 1980s up to the late 90s.

A lot of the people I knew who did them also all have had some type of Cardiac issues and bad hips and knees from it.

I see them now in their late 50s and early 60s shuffling around like 80 Year olds and wondering what went wrong.

We all thought we were improving our fitness levels at the time, but didn't know the long term effect it was having on our bodies.

Another good link here.

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/1539611/Marathon-Running-Done-Over-Many-Years-Bad-For-Heart

Moderate exercise and a good diet free from processed foods.

Not Smoking and not too much Alchol is the best you can do for your body.

If it's any comfort, I think many people get it wrong in every generation....

I see a lot of the same toxic trends in the modern gym culture. "Inhale as much protein, pre workout & supplements as you can. Lift heavy sh*t up and put it back down... go hard, or go home!

Injuries? Over-training? Exercise variety? "screw that bro, look at my guns!"

I'm starting to think some people are just born to burn out rather than fade away... that seems to be the prevailing attitude that I see.

maudgonner

Banning things increases stress levels and creates unnecessary. It is deeply unwise. Therefore I say:

Ban ban.


Boom boom.

ThinkProgress

ScumLord wrote: »

We have specialised for running though. Things like our achilles tendon are unique to humans among primates and its major contribution is to act like a spring storing and releasing energy making it easier to (specifically) run. There are all sorts of adaptations in our spine and other parts of the body that make us particularly good at running for great distances. Over the course of a marathons distance a (fit) human can outrun a horse, on a hot day.

All that proves is that we are adapted to be ABLE to run... it still doesn't prove that we were born to run all the time or to excess.

But each to their own. I like to run... but not all the time and never to excess.

Don't forget, if we are specialist runners, why do we have so many other abilities too? If we were designed to mostly just run... we never would have developed those other vast array of skills and attributes.

Clearly our ancestors spent a lot of time doing a variety of different things. Not just running.

Some clever clogs probably figured out that it was just easier to dig a giant hole and let our prey kill itself. Then we could get home earlier from the hunt and still have time to paint the cave that the mrs hunter gatherer has been bugging us to do for the past 3 weeks! :pac:

recylingbin

nhunter100 wrote: »

Do you mean the Greek soldier in ancient times. He ran a little bit further than 26.2 miles tbh closer to 150 miles. the modern equivalent is Spartalon.

Alecta Rundacropolis?

Zombienosh

Lets ban bans

Maximus Alexander

Zombienosh wrote: »

Lets ban bans

I'm afraid banning bans is being banned soon.

nhunter100

recylingbin wrote:

Alecta Rundacropolis?

Nah he had a nicer name than that, plus yours sounds makey uppy.

biko

Everything I don't like must be banned Everything I like is a human right and must be paid for by others