“A lot of people can't comprehend it,” Dr. Rayman says. But to him, it's simple. “I just love meeting people, I love the running culture and it's still a rush finishing a marathon.”
For runners, the marathon is frequently thought of as Mount Everest. It's the goal that most, if not all, want to summit. Some will do it once and never again. Others will do one a year, perhaps two.
However, for a small group of runners, the thrill of doing the 42-kilometre distance entices them to run multiple marathons each and every year. And while they are proof that it can be done, experts warn that doing too many of the races can have harmful long-term effects on the body.
“The vast majority cannot do it,” says Chris Woollam, a sports-medicine physician and medical director of the Mississauga Marathon and the Toronto Marathon. “I've got too many 50-year-olds with arthritis in their knees and hips, some guys needing hip replacements in their 50s, knee replacements in their 50s and 60s.”
Still, even Dr. Woollam concedes that, with good mechanics, it is possible for some runners to avoid the sort of injuries likely to befall most runners who do what others view as an unbelievable number of marathons.
But look at the number of marathons the majority of elite runners enter each year and you'll find proof in favour of moderation, says Bob Vigars, track and field coach at the University of Western Ontario. “If you look at the world-class runners, very few of those guys do any more than three in a year,” he says. “And these guys, and women, are running machines in that they are just so efficient.”
Last year, Dr. Rayman ran 18 marathons. The year before that, he completed 17. He has already run 10 this year and expects to do another 10 before the year is over.
Unlike elite runners, however, Dr. Rayman and most of those who do multiple marathons each year aren't out to break any records. They are simply drawn to the events themselves, with their excitement and camaraderie and the satisfaction of crossing the finish line.
Daniel Fricker, a 75-year-old retired educational consultant who lives outside Sherbrooke, Que., has run 89 marathons since he began competing in the events 28 years ago. “I get a sense of satisfaction each time I do it,” he says. “And having run a marathon, everything else seems like small cheese.”
While Mr. Fricker has suffered minor injuries to both his knees in recent years, he says he has never suffered a “major” injury.
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