# List of marathon fatalities

Below is a sortable list of individuals who died as a result of running a marathon.

## Causes of death during the marathon

The most frequent causes are:
* sudden cardiac death, triggered by a congenital or acquired heart disorder;
* exercise-associated hyponatremia or other electrolyte imbalance;
* exertional heat stroke or severe hyperthermia.
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.
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."
Heat stroke is an emergency condition in which thermoregulation fails and the body temperature rises above 104 °F (40 °C). It becomes a greater risk in warm and humid weather.

## List

| Origin | Name [ref.] | Age | Marathon date | Event | Location | Cause / Notes |
| POR | Francisco Lázaro | 24 | 15 July 1912 | Olympic Marathon | Stockholm, Sweden | Electrolyte imbalance |
| SUI | Jakob Jutz | 35-36 | 26 August 1951 | Swiss Athletics Federation Marathon Championships | Cham, Switzerland | Heart failure |
| FRA | Jacques Bussereau | 48 | 28 October 1984 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
| GBR | Duncan Kerr | 28 | 22 September 1985 | Glasgow Marathon | Glasgow, UK | Pneumonia |
| USA | Martin A. Wurst, Jr. | 32 | 2 November 1986 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Coronary artery disease |
| USA | Edwin Brown | 47 | 14 December 1986 | Dallas Marathon | Dallas, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Thomas Becker | 40 | 8 October 1989 | Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, US | Heart attack |
| USA | William McKinney | 59 | 4 March 1990 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Lisa B. Christensen | 19 | 4 November 1990 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Coronary artery abnormality |
| USA | Julius Becza | 58 | 24 October 1993 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Heart attack |
| USA | Samuel Grafton | 42 | 16 October 1994 | Detroit Marathon | Detroit, US | Heart attack |
| SWI | Pierre Marguet | 27 | 6 November 1994 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack; also for an unnamed second fatality |
| SWE | Humphrey Siesage | 61 | 15 April 1996 | Boston Marathon | Boston, US | Heart attack |
| GBR | Anna Loyley | 26 | 8 March 1998 | Bath Half Marathon | London, UK | Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome |
| USA | Kelly Barrett | 43 | 11 October 1998 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Hyponatremia |
| GBR | Don Scott | 48 | 26 September 1999 | Robin Hood Marathon | Nottingham, UK | Heart attack |
| USA | Danny Towns | 45 | 22 October 2000 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Luke Roach | 22 | 7 October 2001 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Heat stroke |
| USA | Laura M. Clancy | 29 | 20 October 2001 | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore, US | Brain aneurysm |
| ECU | Cynthia Lucero | 28 | 15 April 2002 | Boston Marathon | Boston, US | Hyponatremia |
| USA | Hilary Bellamy | 35 | 27 October 2002 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Hyponatremia |
| GBR | Craig Johanson | 28 | 14 September 2003 | Robin Hood Marathon | Nottingham, UK | Cardiac arrhythmia |
| USA | Rachael Townsend | 29 | 12 October 2003 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Mitral valve prolapse |
| USA | James Leone | 60 | 19 March 2006 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Raul Reyna | 53 | 19 March 2006 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, US | Heart attack |
| USA | William Goggins | 43 | 30 July 2006 | San Francisco Marathon | San Francisco, US | Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy |
| USA | George Spears, Sr. | 49 | 1 October 2006 | Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Earl Seyford | 56 | 29 October 2006 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C., US | Heart attack |
| USA | Marc Witkes | 40 | 10 December 2006 | Tucson Marathon | Tucson, US | Congenital heart abnormalities |
| GBR | David Rogers | 22 | 22 April 2007 | London Marathon | London, UK | Hyponatremia |
| USA | Chad Schieber | 35 | 7 October 2007 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Mitral valve prolapse |
| USA | Ryan Shay | 28 | 3 November 2007 | USA Marathon Championships | New York City, US | Cardiac arrhythmia |
| USA | Adam Nickel | 27 | 2 March 2008 | Little Rock Marathon | Little Rock, US | Coronary artery abnormality; electrolyte imbalance |
| BRA | Carlos Jose Gomes | 58 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Joseph Marotta | 66 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Fred Costa | 41 | 2 November 2008 | New York City Marathon | New York City, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Erin Lahr | 29 | 14 December 2008 | Dallas Marathon | Dallas, US | Cardiac arrhythmia |
| IRE | Colin Dunne | 27 | 1 March 2009 | Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, Spain | Heart attack |
| USA | Peter Curtin | 23 | 10 October 2009 | Baltimore Marathon | Baltimore, US | Undetermined, possible heat stroke; body temperature 107 °F (42 °C) |
| USA | William Caviness | 35 | 9 October 2011 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Ulysses Thomas | 58 | 5 November 2011 | Savannah Marathon | Savannah, US | |
| GBR | Claire Squires | 30 | 22 April 2012 | London Marathon | London, UK | Heart attack, DMAA supplement |
| ESP | Xavier Jiménez | 45 | 17 March 2013 | Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, Spain | Heart attack |
| GBR | Sam Harper Brighouse | 23 | 14 April 2013 | Brighton Marathon | Brighton, UK | Ischemic colitis |
| USA | R. Jacob Zeman | 35 | 9 November 2013 | Rock 'n' Roll Marathon | Savannah, US | "Unsuspected heart condition" |
| GBR | Robert Berry | 42 | 13 April 2014 | London Marathon | London, UK | Heat stroke |
| PHI | Manases Alfon Jr. | 38 | 7 February 2016 | Condura Skyway Marathon | Philippines | |
| PHI | Arnold Lubang | 40 | 7 February 2016 | Condura Skyway Marathon | Philippines | Cardiac arrest |
| GBR | Mike Freeman | 55 | 28 February 2016 | Vodafone Malta Marathon | Sliema, Malta | "Natural causes" |
| GBR | David Seath | 31 | 24 April 2016 | London Marathon | London, UK | Heart attack |
| NED | Rob Bremer | 50 | 26 November 2017 | Curacao KLM Marathon | Curacao | Cardiac arrest |
| GBR | Matt Campbell | 29 | 22 April 2018 | London Marathon | London, UK | Cardiac arrest |
| GBR | Juan Camilo Arboleda Alzate | 38 | 16 September 2018 | Maratón Medellin | Medellín, Colombia | Heart attack |
| CHI | Claudio Agurto Spencer | 51 | 7 April 2019 | Santiago Marathon | Santiago, Chile | Aortic dissection |
| USA | Taylor Ceepo | 22 | 19 May 2019 | Cleveland Marathon | Cleveland, US | Cardiac |
| CAN | Steve Trickett | 35 | 26 May 2019 | Ottawa Marathon | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Heart Attack |
| USA | Harry Vroulis | 74 | 19 January 2020 | Houston Marathon | Houston, US | Heart attack |
| USA | Gregory McSween | 41 | 9 November 2021 | Marine Corps Marathon | | |
| FRA | Bruno Meunier | 41 | 5 June 2022 | Marathon de la Liberté | Caen, France | Heart attack |
| JPN | unnamed | 69 | 3 March 2024 | Tokyo Marathon | Sumida, Tokyo | |
| USA | Joey Fecci | 26 | 27 April 2024 | Nashville Marathon | Nashville, US | "Natural causes" |
| POR | Marco Gomes | 42 | 28 April 2024 | Maratona da Europa | Aveiro, PT | |

## Non-health-related marathon fatalities

| Country | Event | Deaths | Date |
| Sri Lanka | Weliveriya bombing | 15 | 5 April 2008 |
| USA | Boston Marathon bombing | 3 | 15 April 2013 |
| China | Gansu ultramarathon disaster | 21 | 22 May 2021 |