Marathon runners are likely to suffer kidney injuries because of dehydration, scientists have warned.
Researchers found that 80 per cent of competitors had Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) soon after the race - a condition where the kidneys fail to filter waste from the blood.
Although participants’ kidneys fully recovered within two days, the findings raise questions about the long-term impact of marathon running.
It comes as thousands of Londoners put their final training plans into place ahead of the capital’s marathon on April 23.
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The scientists, from Yale University, studied blood and urine samples from a small group of runners in the Hartford Marathon in 2015.
Professor Chirag Parikh, who led the research, said: "The kidney responds to the physical stress of marathon running as if it's injured, in a way that's similar to what happens in hospitalised patients when the kidney is affected by medical and surgical complications."
