Heat changes sports dramatically. During a marathon, the level of carelessness is particularly striking. How much is our concern for the victims worth to us?
Refreshments at the 2023 Hamburg Half Marathon Photo: Markus Tischler/imago
This wasn’t a big news story this week. At least outside Schleswig-Holstein, you had to be interested in sports to read about the Kiel Run on Sunday. With temperatures reaching 28 degrees, about 100 people had to be treated for circulatory problems, and 20 eventually died. Including a 37-year-old man with a pre-existing condition, the race was set to be canceled. The half-marathon was always scheduled for lunchtime. Apparently the organizers decided not to cancel it, partly because of concerns about mass panic. Kiel’s mayor, Ulf Kampf (SPD), presented a new heat concept for the future.
The Kiel Run wasn’t national news, partly because of the heated debate over asylum, but also because there’s still a dearth of conversation about sports and climate catastrophe. Organized sports act as if they can manage climate change like a police operation. More heat waves, more artificial snow.
According to one study, there were 47,000 heat-related deaths in Europe last year, the second highest number since records began in 2015. Given the recent onset of autumn, it’s easy to forget that September was another record-breaking month. The downside was immediate. The Austrian Wachau Marathon was cancelled due to expected catastrophic rainfall and flooding, putting athletes at risk and requiring emergency services elsewhere. The climate crisis is currently changing sports in a massive and comprehensive way.
The third news of the week about running comes from the US. TikToker Caleb Graves died at the finish line of a half marathon. In his last video before he died, he expressed his concerns about running, captioning it “This heat is no joke.” He collapsed the day before due to the heat. “I grew up in Texas and know the heat, but the heat and UV rays in Southern California are something else. The daytime high is 41 degrees, so the run started at 8 a.m.” 5 a.m. wasn’t enough for Graves.
The Marathon as a Large-Scale Event
Why is none of this worth discussing? Anyone who talks about deaths in running competitions will be sensitive. Deaths while cross-country skiing are normal, even if there is no fever. A comparison of event organizers worldwide in 2019 found that every 40,000 marathon participants died. Undiagnosed heart disease often plays a role. And overconfidence. Extreme discipline that was previously considered limiting has become a popular event in high-performance societies.
It is also shocking how routine this death is. There are successful countermeasures. For example, in Italy, marathon runners have been required to submit a health certificate since 1980. According to the Austrian standard This has resulted in a nearly 90% reduction in mortality rates. In an academic discipline that lets people die and then die, it can be difficult to talk about climate victims.
The world first talked about running in the climate crisis at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Qatar. In a bizarre midnight marathon, only 40 of the 68 starters crossed the finish line. Pictures of exhausted stars in wheelchairs went viral. But there was little discussion about climate policy at the time, and more about geopolitics—how unsuitable Qatar was for hosting sporting events.
But when races in Germany, such as the recent Kiel or the Hamburg Marathon in April, become climate-related health risks, the public finds this less noteworthy. A society without borders, a sport that defines itself by pushing boundaries, simply cannot tolerate new boundaries created by nature. It shouldn’t. And if they don’t say it, they don’t.
Until someone dies
Some affected see it differently. At the 2018 US Open, in the heat of the heat, Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis complained that “they won’t change anything until someone dies.” Death is perhaps the last remaining frontier. Temporary adjustments have been made, such as heat breaks. And sport in Germany needs to change, too. Events need to be held after lunchtime and during colder months, with more emergency services and more cancellations. Because of storms, floods, hurricanes and infrastructure damage.
This is the new reality. But one thing that is equally urgent is to rethink sports. According to a pioneering study, “Playing Against the Clock,” global sports have CO.2-Footprint the size of Denmark The world’s 17 biggest leagues account for almost a third of this. Amateur runners have little share. But they pay more for results than sports professionals in isolated, partially covered, air-conditioned stadiums. It’s time to find a word for all this in sports too.
