Table 1

Blisters, calluses, and corns reported in the marathon literature

Event	Method of study	Number of race entrants	Number of study participants	Number of people affected
If not otherwise stated, the percentage in “Number of people affected” refers to blisters.
*Percentage based on number of entrants in study.
†Percentage based on number of entrants in race.
‡Number of finishers.
Classical Marathon Race of Athens (1973)⁴⁴	Survey sent to runners 1 month after race	139	94	During race: 24 (26%)* After race: 13 (14%)* (blisters, chafing, loss of toenails)
New York City Marathon (1979)³⁸	Review of medical records from medicine and podiatry tents	14153	635	96 (16%)*
Midnight Sun Marathon (1980)⁴⁵	Survey sent 3 weeks after race	252	84	11 (19%)*
Big M Melbourne Marathon (1980)⁴⁶	Survey of those who sought treatment during the race	5423	97	13 (13%)*
London Marathon (1982)^47,⁴⁸	Report of runners treated at first aid stations during race	1700 (1982)	Unknown	12 (0.7%)†
Sheffield Marathon (1982)^49–⁵¹	Report of runners treated at first aid stations	2289	409	94 (4.2%)†(skin lesions, including blisters)
Twin Cities Marathon (1982–94)⁵²	Review of medical records from first aid tents	81277 (total for all years)	1534	289 (19.9%)*
Glasgow Marathon (1982–85, 1987)⁵³	Review of medical records from first aid tents	8256 (1982)	Unknown	152 (1.8%)†
		14271 (1983)		81 (0.6%)†
		15353 (1984)		54 (0.4%)†
		20052 (1985)		33 (0.2%)†
		8600 (1987)		48 (0.3%)
Boston Marathon (1985, 1987)⁵⁴	Review of medical records from first aid tents	5122 (1985)	536	102 (19%)*
		6364 (1987)	93	9 (10%)*
Wonderful Copenhagen Marathon and Danish National Marathon Championship (1986)^55–⁵⁷	Review of medical records from medical tent	2520 (total in race)	40	During run: 10 (16%)*
	Two questionnaires given to championship participants; one for injuries during race and one for injuries after race	60 (championship participants)	60	After run: 16 (26%)*
Arhus Marathon (1986)⁵⁸	Questionnaire about training injuries	Unknown	161	40 (25%)*
Grandma’s Marathon (1989–91, 1993–95)⁵⁹	Review of medical records from first aid tent	3742 (1989)‡	385	89 (23%)*
		5334 (1990)‡	405	89 (22%)*
		5150 (1991)‡	242	61 (25%)*
		5640 (1993)‡	141	31 (22%)*
		5193 (1994)‡	343	72 (21%)*
		6528 (1995)‡	261	60 (23%)*
Auckland Citibank Marathon (1993)^60,⁶¹	Review of medical records from first aid tent	1219	75	11 (14.5%)*
New York City Marathon (1994)⁶²	Survey for people who presented to first aid stations for podiatry care	29735	265	109 (41%)* (corns/blisters/calluses)
Great North Run (Unknown)⁶³	Review of medical records from first aid tents	9330 (marathon)	445	62 (0.7%)† (blisters, chafing, strains, stings, exhaustion)