Doctor to Study Effect on Marathon Runners' Heart (Read 537 times)

We're having our annual Manitoba Marathon this weekend. Here's an interesting article. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/06/13/marathon-study.html?ref=rss

"However, the previous studies showed that amateur runners — those who train less than about 55 kilometres per week — were more likely to demonstrate the heart problems. "It's more important for those patients or athletes who are amateur runners, the non-elites who think, 'Well, I'm just going to start running. I'll run a marathon,' without actually doing the training," he said." I would be more interested in the affect on the typical marathoner (non-elite but run 30-100 mpw). If someone is running that little (less than 55 km = ~35 miles) I would think they would be more at risk. But how much risk (10% or .1%) ? and what does the level of exertion do to affect risk. I could have finished a maraton running 20 miles a week but pace would need to be slower, etc. Hopefully, that is what his new trial will determine but it is less meaningful (applicable to the general marathoning population) to study the casual runner.