Marathon medicine and introduction.

This edition of the BJSM is devoted to medical and physiological aspects of marathon running.Following the very successful Sports Council and Health Education Council sponsored symposium at Lilleshall on "Exercise, Health and Medicine" in May 1983 I suggested to the Fitness and Health Advisory Group of the Sports Council that a symposium on "Marathon Medicine" would be a useful sequel.As Medical Director of the London Marathon I had been bombarded with letters from doctors requiring advice on the medical aspects of marathon running and the facilities required at these events and I thought that it was an opportune time to bring a group of experts together to make recommenda- tions on race medical support and exchange information on some of the physiological and medical aspects of long distance running.This suggestion was taken up with enthusiasm by Professor Jerry Morris and the other members of the group and the conference was held with additional support from the Health Education Council in February 1984 at Bisham.The conference was organised with the object of bringing together physiologists, physicians, and those most involved with marathon events, St. John, the Red Cross, physiotherapists and podiatrists, to discuss the associated medical problems, their causes, prevention and treatment.Not surprisingly many of the participants were runners themselves.