Abstract
A questionnaire was given to all participants of the Wonderful Copenhagen Marathon 1986 regarding demographic information, health, training, previous injuries and methods used to prevent these. A total load of 2158 Danish runners participated and 1426 (68 per cent) replied. Fifty per cent of the runners were training 30-60 km per week and 25 per cent more than 60 km per week. Forty-one per cent were members of running clubs. The runners were equally distributed between all social groups. Most runners were slim (mean BMI 22.3 +/- 1.87 (SD)), healthy, non-smokers who rarely suffered from serious injuries, but 31 per cent had had injuries that prevented them from training during the last year. Nearly all performed stretching exercises and methods to avoid injuries. Fifty per cent of the runners tried to optimize their performance by changing their diet in the days before the run. Seventeen per cent used the classical high carbohydrate diet and 33 per cent other special diets.
Full text
PDF

Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Campbell M. J. Predicting running speed from a simple questionnaire. Br J Sports Med. 1985 Sep;19(3):142–144. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.19.3.142. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Costill D. L. Physiology of marathon running. JAMA. 1972 Aug 28;221(9):1024–1029. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hölmich P., Darre E., Jahnsen F., Hartvig-Jensen T. The elite marathon runner: problems during and after competition. Br J Sports Med. 1988 Mar;22(1):19–21. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.22.1.19. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jacobs S. J., Berson B. L. Injuries to runners: a study of entrants to a 10,000 meter race. Am J Sports Med. 1986 Mar-Apr;14(2):151–155. doi: 10.1177/036354658601400211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lysholm J., Wiklander J. Injuries in runners. Am J Sports Med. 1987 Mar-Apr;15(2):168–171. doi: 10.1177/036354658701500213. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Maughan R. J., Miller J. D. Incidence of training-related injuries among marathon runners. Br J Sports Med. 1983 Sep;17(3):162–165. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.17.3.162. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sherman W. M., Costill D. L. The marathon: dietary manipulation to optimize performance. Am J Sports Med. 1984 Jan-Feb;12(1):44–51. doi: 10.1177/036354658401200107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]