We had a middling popular half marathon this Sunday in our town (~ 2.5 k participants - not bad for a December event), and we were monitored by nine doctors standing by the path or circulating on bikes, in addition to ambulances standing by.
Today’s press report said just one runner collapsed (I saw the ambulance leave - at km 20 which seems to be pretty typical), (and six were treated for exhaustion after the finish line), but three runners were asked to bow out mid-race by doctors.
What would be the outward signs that would prompt such a medical opinion (for a runner who, obviously, is still on their feet)? I know I do get asked quite a lot if I feel all right by the volunteers at public trainings, because I always look pretty strained when running, even when I pace myself well below my all-out speed for the distance.
I did an ultramarathon relay (4 people, half marathon each) a few years back, where a few elite runners were doing the entire thing solo. As those people passed each relay point, they were weighed, and if they’d lost too much weight they were pulled.
Other than that, I’ve not heard of people being pulled without being really conspicuously in distress.
Isn’t one sign of heat stroke that you stop sweating? I would think that would be something they’d check for. Perhaps not so much in the northern hemisphere in December, but who knows?
That was the first thing I thought of - Western States has weigh-ins although the ultras that I’ve done (shorter ones, 50M and 100K) haven’t. I think most races have medical personel at the finish line and sometimes at intermediate distances but I’ve never heard of them pulling people midrace.
Off the top of my head, some outward signs that a runner could be in trouble (some of these might only show up in longer races):
“The 'umbles” - mumbling/stumbling/grumbling/fumbling. Potential signs of hypothermia (can’t communicate, stumbling a lot, very short temper, coordination shot) and probably other maladies.
Constantly gasping for breath. Some ultras are run at high altitudes in the mountains (10,000+ feet) and altitude sickness can be a really bad thing.
Sweating too much or not at all.
Obvious trauma/injury, severe sunburn.
Really hot to the touch.
No thirst or appetite.
Swelling (hyponatremia or overhydration can result in swelling, one sign is watch band feeling tighter and tighter for example, and hyponatremia can kill you).
Unusual stuff coming out of/off of the runner - bloody urine, vomiting, etc.
Running in severe conditions without proper gear - for example the UTMB (103 mile mountain ultra in France) mandates that you carry, amongst other things, a waterproof shell jacket. I don’t know if they’d pull someone from the race who was racing in conditions that would seem to require actually wearing the jacket though.
Many of these wouldn’t, IMHO (and IANAD), necessarily mean yanking someone from a race - just because someone is limping or they barf doesn’t mean they’re done, that is not unusual to see in ultramarathons, but if it’s a continuous problem (runner #123 barfing at every aid station) they might pull the person.
FWIW all of the people that I’ve seen DNF have dropped out on their own - they recognize that something is wrong and they stop, whether it’s injury, illness or just feeling that they aren’t mentally up to it on that day.
In endurance horse races, there are Veterinary Inspections at various points along the route. They are basically checking 4 main items:[ul][li]soundness (lameness, limping, or tenderness in any leg or foot)[/li][li]dehydration[/li][li]respiration rate[/li][li]pulse [/li][/ul] There is an acceptable range for each of those, and a horse outside the range will be held there & rested until they are in the acceptable range. (Horse endurance races are timed; the racers do not all start or finish at the same time.)
I’d imagine the basic tests for human runners are pretty similar.
This is my experience, too. I can’t think on and instance I know (other than the potential weigh-in thing) of where a runner was mentally with it, on his feet, and moving towards the finish line, and he got pulled out for medical reasons. It’s always either, “shit, I’m injured” and bowing out to got the medical tent, passing out on the racecourse, or some stopped mental functioning making getting to the finish obviously unlikely.