Hull-headquartered charitable foundation, The Matthew Good Foundation, has launched a new app, Race Ready, designed to safeguard the health of millions of runners.
The Matthew Good Foundation was established in memory of Matthew Good, who tragically passed away in 2011 while raising money for charity by running the Humber Half Marathon.
The app has been launched in collaboration with the medical division of World Athletics and has a clear mission to improve runner safety and reduce medical emergencies during endurance running events.
Race Ready has been designed to provide evidence-based, independent information spanning medical, performance, hydration and nutrition guidance and resources, in a way that is accessible for all runners, helping them to stay safe whilst training and racing.
“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,” said Tim Good (pictured, main image), chairman at The Matthew Good Foundation.
Despite being a young man with no underlying medical conditions, and although the benefits of running greatly outweigh the risks, the passing of Matthew (pictured above) highlighted the risks even healthy runners face during endurance events where many runners encounter medical issues when training and racing.
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.
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 completely free Race Ready app.
Dr Amy Boalch added: “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.
“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. To continue his legacy, his family formed the foundation – a project Matthew had originally envisioned with his brother.
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.
Tim continued: “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.”