Race Magazine - AdventureCORPS

THE DANGERS OF HOT WEATHER RUNNING
Noora Alidina receives fluids for inside and out during the 2007 race from her husband and daughter.
Someone suffering from heatstroke needs
immediate medical attention. They should be
moved out of the sun, cooled by either rubbing
their body with ice or immersing them in cold
water and given fluids intravenously.
Hyponatremia
Within the last few years the condition known
as hyponatremia has begun to attract the attention
of sports medicine physicians, exercise
physiologists, and the medical directors at
some of the larger marathons around the country.
Hyponatremia has been called water intoxication
because of the symptoms it produces.
According to Dr. Tim Noakes, Professor of
Exercise & Sports Science Director at the
University of Cape Town, "…a person with
hyponatremia looks like he or she is mildly
drunk. They can’t concentrate normally…they
forget what you were talking about and start to
concentrate elsewhere."
Hyponatremia occurs when the body
becomes dangerously low in sodium. It’s
caused when you literally take in too much
water. Although scientists have known about it
for a long time, it has only been in the last few
years as more runners have been competing in
marathons that it has become a concern.
According to Dr. Noakes, fluid has to be
ingested at high levels for several hours for
hyponatremia to occur. He suggests that a runner
would have to be drinking water regularly
for at least four to six hours to develop the condition.
So runners taking four to six hours or
more to run a marathon are at particular risk.
Unfortunately, symptoms of hyponatremia
tend to mimic those of severe dehydration
and/or heat exhaustion. By giving the athlete
more water to drink the hyponatremia becomes
worse, as more and more sodium is flushed out
of the system. If a runner with hyponatremia is
given fluids intravenously, they can suffer a
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