Marathon Medicine.

The textbook Marathon Medicine is simply the best text that exists today on medicine and related topics for the marathon. The editor, Dan Tunstall Pedoe, MD, PhD, has produced a book of extraordinary breadth and depth and by his experience as medical director of the London Marathon for more than two dozen years, he speaks with authority on this important subject.

This text is the compilation of a symposium at the FLORA London Marathon in April 2000, where researchers and physicians from all over the globe came to present the very latest science and medicine on marathon running. Some of the outstanding contributors were Drs. Tim Noakes, Bill Roberts, Bengt Saltin, Randy Eichner, Barry Maron and Professors Bill Morgan, David Martin and Claude Bouchard--all eminent world renowned physicians and scholars who have written their own textbooks and/or have produced major papers on this topic. In no other text have such prominent intellectuals contributed such complete work since the New York symposium in the late 1970's.

Marathon Medicine raises important running questions to us as human beings as we embark on this 21st Century. Why run a marathon? What are the benefits of this marathon race? Are there drawbacks to running this distance? How many marathons should we run during a lifetime of long distance running? What about proper shoes for the long run?

A particularly strong point of this textbook is the discussion permitted after various speakers' presentations (although this is did not occur with every presentation). With each included discussion, there seemed to be a strong sense of present-day science which was particularly helpful.

Despite many strong points, Marathon Medicine does occasionally suffer from the fact that some presenters simply did not measure up to others on the program. For example, a student replaced Professor Ron Maughan and the lack of knowledge was evident. Furthermore, the overall text lacks the coherent nature that one finds when there is just a single author.

In summary, this is a superior text, one that any serious marathoner who is practicing medicine or who offers medical or scientific training advice to runners should have in their library. Dr. Dan Tunstall Pedoe has done a magnificent job in compiling this information to stand as a benchmark as we begin this new century.

Marathon Medicine, edited by Dan Tunstall Pedoe. Printed in Great Britain by Ebenezer Baylis, The Trinity Press, Worcester UK. (ISBN NUMBER = 1-85315-460-1)

AMAA Life Member Al Morris is the author of two texts in sports medicine, over 150 articles and an international speaker for over 35 years on training and running marathons.

by Al Morris, PhD, FACSM