Running a marathon is a fantastic achievement that many people strive for. Months of training mean you get in great shape and then on the big day you battle against yourself to try to set the best possible time. But of course the training is going to be tough and some days you’ll feel like you need a boost – everyone does. That’s when many runners reach for legal stimulants to help them out.
However, now it seems that runners taking part in future London marathons are being warned of the dangers of taking these supplements. The warnings follow the tragic death of Claire Squires at the 2012 event. The 30-year-old collapsed and died around a mile from the finish line, and it seems that the culprit was an amphetamine-like stimulant she had bought legally online to boost her energy and performance.
The coroner ruled that she had died of cardiac arrest, complicated by DMAA. DMAA is the active ingredient in the product she had used. It was also revealed that several products containing DMAA had been withdrawn from sale in August 2012.
It has been suggested for a while that DMAA could be potentially hazardous for our health. It has been linked, for example, to cases of high blood pressure, nausea, cerebral haemorrhage and stroke. In fact, last year the Australian government banned the use of the substance after a coroner ruled a man had died after taking it.
Many other countries have imposed similar bans, and while the drug is still currently legal in the UK, it is strongly recommended that it should be avoided. There have been calls for stricter regulation of supplements in general to ensure that what happened to Claire Squires never happens to a marathon runner ever again.
Comments are closed.