World Athletics medical division rolls out Race Ready app to safeguard health of runners

 The Matthew Good Foundation – which was established in memory of Matthew Good, who tragically passed away in 2011 while raising money for charity by running the Humber Half Marathon – has today, in collaboration with the medical division of World Athletics, launched an innovative new app, Race Ready, designed to safeguard the health of millions of runners.

Launched with a clear mission to improve runner safety and reduce medical emergencies during endurance running events, it has been designed to provide evidence-based, independent information spanning medical, performance, hydration and nutrition guidance and resources, in a way that is easily accessible for all runners, helping them to stay safe whilst training and racing.

Tim Good, Matthew’s brother and Chairman at The Matthew Good Foundation commented: “Today is a proud day to be launching the Race Ready app as the culmination of years of work to improve race medicine, inspired by the sudden death of my brother.”

Despite being a young man with no underlying medical conditions, and although the benefits of running greatly outweigh the risks, Matthew’s passing highlighted the risks even healthy runners face during endurance events where many runners encounter medical issues when training and racing.

In fact, a study published by the National Library of Medicine (USA) found that in a typical 10km race, around 6 in 1,000 runners require medical attention. Some face serious, potentially life-threatening conditions like heatstroke and hyponatremia (low blood sodium).

With thousands of mass-participation running events held worldwide each year, tragic losses of amateur runners and athletes still occur, and so the app has been developed collaboratively by a panel of leading experts in race medicine, including Dr. Paulo Emilio Adami, Head of Medical Operations at World Athletics, Professor Courtney Kipps, Vice Medical Director of the London Marathon, Professor Rob Galloway, former Medical Director of the Brighton Marathon, and Dr. Amy Boalch, Medical Doctor, London Marathon Medicine Conference Committee Member and a UK Athletics Accredited Coach.

The ambition is to reach as many of the millions of runners that take part in mass participation running events globally each year as possible through the Race Ready app – which is completely free – including through engaging race organisers for whom it is incredibly simple to integrate Race Ready as the new gold-standard in raceday care into their existing practises.

Dr. Amy Boalch explains: “All content within the app is strictly evidence-based, curated and vetted by our World Athletics affiliated team of experts. Now, the challenge is to get the information directly into the hands of runners, to address a crucial gap in the running community whereby at present knowledge is lacking relative to medical issues.”

Boalch adds: “Integration of the app should be a no-brainer for race organisers globally – it’s an easy way to significantly improve raceday care, reducing the number of fatalities and the number of people presenting at medical tents at events up and down the country.”

Matthew’s sudden loss was caused by hyponatremia, and it had a profound impact on his family, friends, and colleagues at his Hessle-based family business, John Good Group, where he worked as a Director. To continue his legacy, they formed the Foundation, a project Matthew had originally envisioned with his brother, Tim, when planning for the company’s future.

Since its inception, the Foundation has been deeply involved in race medicine, funding initiatives that improve runner safety by supporting academic research and providing resources for race organisers. A key achievement was its role in the creation of the International Institute of Race Medicine (IIRM), now part of the World Academy for Endurance Medicine (the medical division of World Athletics).

Good explains: “The Race Ready app is a landmark moment within The Matthew Good Foundation’s journey towards democratising race medicine. It’s not just an app, but a continuation of Matt’s legacy where there is the opportunity to ensure runners worldwide have the tools they need to stay safe and healthy. I believe Matt would be proud of what we’ve achieved.”

In addition to its core educational resources developed in partnership with the World Academy for Endurance Medicine, the Race Ready app also provides race location weather updates and checklists to ensure runners are fully prepared ahead of raceday.

Boalch concludes: “The app will help users understand potential health risks and make informed decisions about their training and participation in events.”