Some reflections on the legend of the Marathon runner (hdt. 6.105, Aristoph. nub. 63–67, Plut. de glor. ath. 347c, Lucian. laps. 3 and the Roman Tradition)

A well-known tradition has it that after the victory of the Greeks over the Persian army at the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.E.) one of the Athenians ran forty kilometres from Marathon to Athens and died soon after his arrival in the city, after giving the good news. However, the story is more complicated than it seems, and several issues have claimed the attention of scholars, such as what the Marathon runner’s name was, what form of greeting he used and whether the episode really happened or not. The first part of my paper offers a reconsideration of the extant sources in order to express my point of view on the abovementioned issues. The second part aims at showing a selection of parallel passages which could possibly prove useful in trying to illustrate how the legend of the Marathon runner evolved into the shape it assumed in the Lucianean account, which is still considered as the ‘official’ version of the story.

Marathon race performance increases the amount of particulate matter deposited in the respiratory system of runners: an incentive for “clean air marathon runs”

Background In the last decades, marathon running has become a popular form of physical activity among people around the world. It should be noticed that the main marathon races are performed in large cities, where air quality varies considerably. It is well established that breathing polluted air results in a number of harmful effects to the human body. However, there have been no studies to show the impact of marathon run performance on the amount of the deposition of varied fractions of airborne particulate matter (PM) in the respiratory tract of runners. This is why the present study sought to determine the impact of marathon run performance in the air of varying quality on the deposition of the PM1, PM2.5, PM10 in the respiratory tract in humans. Methods The PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 deposition was determined in an “average runner” (with marathon performance time 4 h: 30 min) and in an “elite marathon runner” (with marathon performance time 2 h: 00 min) at rest, and during a marathon race, based on own measurements of the PM content in the air and the size-resolved DF(d) profile concept. Results We have shown that breathing air containing 50 µg m−3 PM10 (a borderline value according to the 2006 WHO standard - still valid) at minute ventilation (VE) equal to 8 L min−1 when at rest, resulted in PM10deposition rate of approximately 9 µg h−1, but a marathon run of an average marathon runner with the VE = 62 L min−1 increased the deposition rate up to 45 µg h−1. In the elite runner, marathon run with the VE= 115 L min−1 increased PM10 deposition rate to 83 µg h−1. Interestingly, breathing the air containing 50 µg m−3of PM10 at the VE = 115 L min−1by the elite marathon runner during the race resulted in the same PM10deposition rate as the breathing highly polluted air containing as much as 466 µg m−3 of PM10 when at rest. Furthermore, the total PM10 deposition in the respiratory tract during a marathon race in average runners is about 22% greater (203 / 166 = 1.22) than in elite runners. According to our calculations, the concentration of PM10in the air during a marathon race that would allow one not to exceed the PM10 deposition rate of 9 µg h−1should be lower than 10 µg m−3 in the case of an average runner, and it should be lower than 5.5 µg m−3 in the case of an elite runner. Conclusions We conclude that a marathon run drastically increases the rate of deposition of the airborne PM in the respiratory tract of the runners, as a consequence of the huge VE generated during the race. A decrease of the PM content in the air attenuates this rate. Based on our calculations, we postulate that the PM10 content in the air during a “clean air marathon run”, involving elite marathon runners, should be below 5.5 µg m−3.

Femoral Neck Stress Fracture of a Male, Healthy Marathon Runner – Case Report and Literature Review

In the present report, a case of a healthy, 38–year-old male recreational marathon runner who presented in the emergency department is discussed. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the femoral neck and treated surgically using a dynamic hip screw (DHS). One year after surgery, the patient was able to return to most of his previous sports activities. In the present report, the existing literature on the subject is exhibited and the points of interest in terms of incidence, risk factors, diagnosis, classification, treatment, and long-term outcome are analyzed. We suggest operative treatment of stress fractures of the femoral neck even in cases of complete undisplaced ones. This way, the risk of a displacement is counteracted, and patients can quickly return to daily activities without having to withstand long-term immobilization.

Self-Control in Sports

Imagine yourself walking to the gym in the rain after a long hard day at work. Picture yourself lifting heavy weights, even though you would prefer sitting on the sofa watching your favorite baseball team win a playoff match. Envision a marathon runner who keeps pushing herself during the final miles of a run, trying to override her thoughts of quitting the straining competition. These are just some sports-related examples of situations during which self-control processes enable us to keep striving for a desirable goal and suppress po-tentially tempting action alternatives. In general, “self-control refers to the capacity for alter-ing one’s own responses, especially to bring them into line with standards such as ideals, values, morals, and social expectations, and to support the pursuit of long-term goals” (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007, p. 351) . However, self-control is not always applied effec-tively as, for instance, evidenced by the large number of gym dropouts every year (e.g., Eng-lert & Rummel, 2016). In this chapter, we will discuss empirical findings that highlight the importance of self-control for sports-related performance and we will introduce the theoretical accounts that try to explain why self-control sometimes appears to fail. Finally, we will discuss open research questions in order to improve our understanding of how self-control operates and why it is not applied at all times.

Adult hypophosphatasia manifests in a marathon runner

A 49-year-old woman, previously healthy, presented with recurrent fractures provoked by minimal trauma. She had sustained seven fractures over the previous 2 years. While she was an avid runner, her injuries were determined to be out of proportion to the degree of trauma. Initial evaluation, exploring the more common causes such as low bone density and abnormal vitamin D metabolism, was unremarkable. On repeat of the some of the tests, a low alkaline phosphatase (AP) was noted, which raised suspicion for hypophosphatasia (HPP), a rare cause of recurrent fractures. Subsequent workup revealed a low bone-specific AP and elevated vitamin B6. Subsequently, genetic testing confirmed the diagnosis of adult-onset HPP caused by a heterozygous mutation c.407G>A in the ALPL gene. Asfotase alfa was started; however, the patient developed an allergic reaction leading to the discontinuation of the drug.