Forget agony of the feet: Running marathons may wreck your heart

What do you get if you run a marathon? A finisher's medal and increased risk of death! An article in the British journal Heart says that endurance sports like distance running can damage your heart by "overstretching" cardiac muscles when they have to pump a heavier-than-normal volume of blood over long periods of time. "The heart pumps about 5 quarts per minute when we're sitting," Dr. James O'Keefe says. "When we're running, it goes up to 25 to 30 quarts. [It] wasn't meant to do that … day in and day out." He adds that up to 30 percent of marathon finishers have "elevated troponin levels," a sign of heart damage. The only marathon we're in: the "Law & Order" one on USA. [Source]

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