If you didn't read the full-length feature article, here's a summary of the key information about running and heart attacks:
Most important by far: Regular running and other forms of vigorous activity can reduce your overall risk of a serious heart attack by up to 50 percent. This extends into the days-weeks-months-years-and-even-decades to come. Everyone dies, but regular exercisers live more healthy, active years. They also have fewer strokes, less diabetes, and less high blood pressure, to name just a few "lifestyle diseases".
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Slightly scary: Notwithstanding the above, your risk of a heart attack increases by about 7x during the actual minutes and hours of a runnning workout. When the heart beats harder, it's more likely to suffer an electrical or artery (cholesterol) event than when it rests.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
Slightly better news: Among individuals who have a heart attack while exercising, the mostly sedentary are 50x more likely to have an attack than those who exercise regularly (five times a week). In other words, if you never exercise but go out one snowy morning to shovel the sidewalks, beware! On the other hand, if you exercise regularly, you'll have much less risk while shoveling, or chasing a bus or performing any other vigorous behavior.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
Conclusion: You're damned if you do (exercise), because every workout carries a small, transient risk. However, you're much more damned if you don't (exercise), because you're far more likely to suffer from heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and similar lifestyle diseases.
DEATHS IN MARATHON RACES
Three large studies have been conducted on heart-attack deaths in marathons. The findings:
Twin Cities Study: In a three-decade study at the Twin Cities and Marine Corps Marathons, there have been 7 heart-attack deaths among 525,700 total runners. That's a risk of 1 death per 75,100 runners.
Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Updated stats from author.
London Study: In a similar study at the London Marathon, there have been 8 heart-attack deaths among 712,000 total runners. That's a risk of 1 death per 89,000 marathoners.
Source: Direct communication from study author.
Toronto Study: In a bigger but less-well-controlled study by a Toronto-based doctor, there were 26 heart-attack deaths among 3,292,000 American runners who competed in 750 different marathons over the past 30 years. That's a risk of 1 death per 126,000 runners.
Source: British Medical Journal
RISK OF DEATH, OTHER ACTIVITIES
It's difficult to make "apples to apples" comparisons between death risks for various activities. But here are your risks of dying during the next year from various activities:
|Riding in a car||1 in 6,535|
|Falling in an accident||1 in 15,614|
|Drowning||1 in 88,772|
|Caught in a fire||1 in 90,944|
|Choking on food||1 in 334,461|
|Getting hit by lightning||1 in 6,383,844|
Source: National Safety Council