Anna Sol Faria, 34, lawyer, at 21 km in São Paulo, on the 2nd; Ronny Marques da Fonseca, 33, condominium manager, in a triathlon race, in João Pessoa, a week later; José Nogueira Neto, 48, businessman, in a half marathon in João Pessoa, no 16; Thiana Biondo, 44, journalist, training on the Salvador waterfront on the last Saturday of November.
Announcements of deaths of amateur athletes during practice appear. What does this mean?
Basically, there are more people practicing physical activity — and more advertising channels, including running events.
A year ago, I wrote in the column “Dying is part of the game” that “runner’s death at Meia de Sampa [ocorrida em 10 de novembro de 2024] It will hardly be the last of anyone to compete in a race.”
Although deaths make the news, it is not possible to infer from this that running is lethal: for the overwhelming majority of people, physical activity improves their cardiorespiratory condition.
A study published in the journal The Physician and Sportsmedicine indicated that in the United States there is one death for every group of just over 300 thousand people who complete running events. The previously accepted data: one death for every 200 thousand runners.
Competitions in Brazil are increasing: 33% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to Ticket Sports, the main ticket seller here.
But, beauty, despite the low risk of physical activity, and, importantly, a much lower risk than that of inactivity, it exists, especially due to hidden heart diseases. That’s why Abraceo, an entity that organizes races, together with the Brazilian Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine, recommends carrying out the APP, a medical evaluation that takes into account results of traditional check-ups and also family clinical history.
The deaths in Paraíba had political consequences: João Pessoa councilors approved a law requiring a health certificate, issued by a doctor with CRM, for those who sign up for “competitive or participatory” tests.
The sanction of the mayor, who expressed his opposition to the law, is still missing, but the Chamber’s reaction, driven by the heat of the moment, tends to be ineffective, and should generate a parallel market for certificates and greater work for the organizer.
“In addition to the councilors not calling us to discuss the project, in the end they demand that we deal with these ‘twenty thousand pieces of paper'”, Paulo Carelli, vice-president of Abraceo, told the column.
Carelli, who is clearly against the municipal law, informs that what is yet to be published by CBAt, the Brazilian Athletics Confederation, which regulates running events, even amateur ones, is the mandatory presence of a medical director at events. Abraceo endorses the requirement.
But what about our daily race? Yes, it is possible to listen to the body, sometimes without the use of heart rate meters or more modern gadgets. Dizziness, for example, is a clear sign that you’ve passed the point and it’s time to stop.
Physical educator Nuno Cobra, who helped make Ayrton Senna’s cardiorespiratory condition “abundant”, as he says, recommends during exercise that the runner speaks without interruption the phrase “I live beyond Paranapiacaba”.
Itaquaquecetuba is also worth it.
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