Marathon athletes 'running on empty', university study finds

A third of the runners who took part in last year's Hong Kong Marathon 10-kilometre race risked their health by doing not even a day's training in the 12 months leading up to it, a university study has found.

A third more trained just once a week, the Baptist University study revealed. Researchers said their findings showed how little awareness there was of the health risks of insufficient training.

Dr Lobo Louie Hung-tak, who led the study, said that although most of those who ran in the 10k race were not doing so competitively, three days of training per week - 40 to 48 kilometres of running - were recommended to reduce the risk of injury.

But 10k participants ran an average of just 9.7 kilometres per week throughout the preceding year, the study found.

The university questioned 1,146 runners who took part in last year's Standard Chartered Marathon events. About 1/4 of those questioned ran the 10k, half were in the half-marathon and the rest joined the 42-kilometre marathon.

There was an alarming lack of preparation for all events. Some 32 per cent of half-marathon runners trained just twice a week and 1/3 of marathon runners trained on fewer than three days a week.

"Generally speaking, half and full-marathon runners should train about five to six days a week, with at least one day of rest," said Louie, adding that training should be "tapered" down 10 days or so before the race.