Inside the Cape Town Marathon: Event Medicine, Risk & Readiness with Dr Darren Green
From SASMA by South African Sports Medicine Association
October 13, 2025 · 42 min · Season 3 · Episode 9
About this episode
Dr Darren Green discusses the medical preparations and risks associated with the Cape Town Marathon.
In this SASMA Podcast episode, host Aasha sits down with Dr Darren Green—Chief Medical Officer for Mediclinic Corporate Events and CMO to flagship races and rugby tournaments—to unpack how a city readies itself, medically and operationally, for the Cape Town Marathon as it bids for Abbott World Marathon Majors status. Dr Green lifts the lid on the real engine room of race day: ER24’s pre-hospital response, doctor–nurse route stations, a 28-bed finish-line race hospital with ICU capability and rapid cold-water immersion, and the live Venue Operations Centre coordinating police, traffic, disaster management, and medical dispatch in real time. He explains how spring weather, heat, wind, humidity, and radiant tar impact risk and performance, and walks through the most common clinical presentations—from heat illness, hyponatremia, and rhabdomyolysis to MSK overload and postural hypotension—plus practical prevention for runners. We also spotlight the 100+ UCT and Stellenbosch volunteers gaining frontline experience and the broader public-health legacy of hosting a world-class marathon in Africa.
People in this episode
Host: Aasha
Guest: Dr Darren Green
Topics covered
- event medicine
- marathon readiness
- medical operations
- risk management
- clinical presentations
- public health
- volunteer experience
Keywords
- Cape Town Marathon
- event medicine
- medical readiness
- heat illness
- hyponatremia
- rhabdomyolysis
- public health
- volunteers
- race day operations
- clinical presentations
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Mediclinic Corporate Events, ER24, UCT, Stellenbosch
Places: Cape Town
More episodes of SASMA
- Research Podcast Series: AI in Research · May 26, 2026 · 31 min
- The science behind the game: Inside cricket’s first sports medicine textbook · May 13, 2026 · 43 min
- From Performance to Pathology: Altitude Medicine Unpacked · April 24, 2026 · 24 min
- Research Podcast Series: Thrive, Don't just survive · April 10, 2026 · 35 min
- Research Podcast Series: Smarter Research Starts Here: Study Design & Proposal Development · March 15, 2026 · 36 min
- Sports Dentistry · March 4, 2026 · 30 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the SASMA podcast page.