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"Well prepared is the one,who starts healthy"

THE MIDWEEK COLUMN

2001-07-18

Medical check before the start. That is our concern

Dr. med. Willi Heepe
Medical director of the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON

Headlines in the news, like some years ago: "Death runs with us"-we took serious despite the slogan- like style. The real,- BERLIN-MARATHON- Medical Service wants to concentrate on this today, because we are not only interested in the records but also in the runners, who cross the finish- line with a smile and without bigger problems on the 30th of September.There is a growing number of runners, often because of the positive effects for our body. We are happy about this development and try to give hints for those, who run the marathon for the first time, but also for those who are "professional" runners.

Every year thousands of runners have to have a health certificate to compete in races like the Paris- Marathon. Often people demand the same at the real,- BERLIN- MARATHON (it was done in 1974-76). We think there are a number of reasons against the duty to offer such a "health- certificate" to compete in running events.

Many runners never had a medical check- up an they are not interested in doing so. There are some reason against forcing them.

We will not prevent people from injuries or seroius illnesses by forcing them to have a check- up, but they have to realise, that it is usefull to have a regular control, discipline and selfresponsibility if you have physical strain by running!

The Medical Team wants to call upon your self- responsibility

The aim is a regular and voluntary medical check- up. By this we can reduce the risk at the marathon or other running events. The real,- BERLIN- MARATHON offers a couple of other information-events during the whole year.

Several events like the "Sportforum", the running advices through the internet, the medical service, running groups and other offers are established in Berlin. Many peolpe take part in these events. For us the transmission of the newest knowledge is the key for the service, to inform the participants and to prevent the possibility of serious incidents.

But still! There are a lot of people among the runners, who have a serious risk or even suffer from an illness and try to fight against it by running. They will be able to hide their illness to get a medical certificate for a race. They are a risk factor we cannot calculate with and we cannot do anything against it.

Illnesses like viral ore bacterial infects can develope within hours or days. They are a big risk factor for the runners during a race but they are not covered by a certificate days or weeks old. Especially these people need medical advice days before or during the marathon, -and especially these people need a big part of self- responsibility.

Go and visit the Medical Team of the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON during the 2,5 days of the exhibition of sports and health. Use our service! It is free of charge.

Lots of runners have a high risk like smokers, overweight or hypertension etc. This group of people often feels good running, but they often don realise the problems and don see the necessity to visit a doctor before racing. They offer the highest risks and a lot of complications throughout races around the world.

Go and visit a doctor who has experiences with sports medicine.

We, the people responsible for the medical support of the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON want to reach you, the participants from all around the world today, weeks before the big race starts.

Have a medical check, especially in sports medicine, every two years. If you are older than 35, every year. There are institutes all around the world

Possible methods of diagnostic are:
General examination with a spezific sportimmanent anamnesis
Complete analysis of muscels and bones
Stress- electrocardiogram to find illnesses of the cardiorespiratory system
Blood samples
Sometimes echocardiography
Sometimes complete diagnosis of the level of fitness including spiroergometry

In the second part of our wednesday column in the beginning of september we tell you how to prepare in the last days before the race and what to pay attention to. Our internet- forum can help a lot!

Dr. med. Willi Heepe
Dr. med. Margrit Hannemann
Dipl. Sportwiss. Jürgen Lock,
Juergen.Lock@berlin-marathon.com
info@sms-berlin.de