Chicago marathon death

I don't know what the mortality rate for marathons is. All I know is that I enjoy it.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] writes

Quoted message said:

I heard that a young woman died after finishing the chicago marathon. Very tragic-my sympathy goes
out to her family and friends. Does anyone have any details as to what happened? How common is
mortality in marathons/races? What generally happens? Thanks.

LQTS?
--
Ken

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I heard that a young woman died after finishing the chicago marathon.

Very

Quoted message said:

tragic-my sympathy goes out to her family and friends. Does anyone have

any

Quoted message said:

details as to what happened? How common is mortality in marathons/races? What generally
happens? Thanks.

Steve,

Mortality in marathons/races is rare, despite the physical exertion.

Mike

Mike Terry said:

Mortality in marathons/races is rare, despite the physical exertion.

Mike

This is true. Can anybody suggest a way to stop this disturbing trend?

In article said:

I heard that a young woman died after finishing the chicago marathon. Very tragic-my sympathy goes
out to her family and friends. Does anyone have any details as to what happened? How common is
mortality in marathons/races? What generally happens? Thanks.

It's not very common. The most common place where runners collapse is at the finish line. It's very
rare for a fatality to occur among fit, well-trained runners. Factors that can cause trouble include
heat, dehydration, and possible interaction with existing heart problems. Even elite athletes have
been known to collapse during races, though I don't know of any fatalities among athletes. In this
case, it appears that the runner was reasonably fit and well trained.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

In article said:

Mike Terry said:

Mortality in marathons/races is rare, despite the physical exertion.

Mike

This is true. Can anybody suggest a way to stop this disturbing trend?

Not really sure that it's a "trend", especially if you look at the number of people who are running
today compared to several years ago. I suppose one answer would be, "don't let non-elites run the
marathon".

For the average person running the marathon, things like proper hydration (neither dehydration nor
overhydration), proper preparation, and avoiding excessive heat would reduce the chances that they
will require medical assistance.

I think these instances are quite alarming, and perhaps a sensible collection of safety hints should
be assembled and included in race packets, if this is not already the case.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

This is indeed sad. Since I got back to the finish around 2:27 into the marathon, I heard about 5
ambulances leave the med tent with sirens on, and twice medical personnel bolt out from the
finish line to get people who collapses on approach. Some people have asked questions on here
like "I've only been training 2 months, can I do this marathon?" and some of us get a little flak
for recommending not. Yes, of course you can probably finish on that. But would I personally
recommend it? no. The Chicago paper reporting this death quoted a figure on marathon deaths as
1/50,000 participants. This even sounds a little high to me, but if you consider I've never heard
of a truly well- trained runner dying, the odds are higher on lower training. Those are low odds
but I still don't recommend tempting them more than necessary. It got a little warm around 3:00
into the marathon, up above 60F. That might have had something to do with it, who knows. Sad,
sad, sad. Andy Hass

In article said:

This is indeed sad. Since I got back to the finish around 2:27 into the marathon, I heard about
5 ambulances leave the med tent with sirens on, and twice medical personnel bolt out from the
finish line to get people who collapses on approach. Some people have asked questions on here
like "I've only been training 2 months, can I do this marathon?" and some of us get a little
flak for recommending not. Yes, of course you can probably finish on that. But would I
personally recommend it? no. The Chicago paper reporting this death quoted a figure on marathon
deaths as 1/50,000 participants. This even sounds a little high to me, but if you consider I've
never heard of a truly well- trained runner dying, the odds are higher on lower training. Those
are low odds but I still don't recommend tempting them more than necessary. It got a little
warm around 3:00 into the marathon, up above 60F. That might have had something to do with it,
who knows. Sad, sad, sad.

I looked up the runner on the chicago marathon website, and she finished at about 8:30 pace (so she
would have almost finished before the temperature jump), and according to reports, she'd competed in
marathons previously. This is a little freaky.

However, you are still more likely to be murdered this year (even if you live in a good
neighbourhood) than you are to die from running the marathon.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

but if you consider I've never heard of a truly well- trained runner dying,

My club's trainer and VP, 2h11m49 marathon PB at London in '91 (still 14th all-time best performance
by a French national), dropped dead during training, in February this year, age 39. No known
congenital condition and no substance abuse.

athledunet.comMarathon.htmOpen ↗

Donovan Rebbechi said:

In article said:

Mike Terry said:

Mortality in marathons/races is rare, despite the physical exertion.

Mike

This is true. Can anybody suggest a way to stop this disturbing trend?

Not really sure that it's a "trend", especially if

Umm, the trend I want to stop is the one that makes it rare. "Thin the herd out" so to speak...

Donovan Rebbechi <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I looked up the runner on the chicago marathon website, and she finished at about 8:30 pace (so
she would have almost finished before the temperature jump), and according to reports, she'd
competed in marathons previously. This is a little freaky.

If it got warmer three hours into the race, it may have played a role during the last forty minutes
of her race.

In any case, she appears to have ran a seriously positive split, about 1:43 and 1:57, and the last
2.2K took her 14;41 to cover, or 10:46 pace. If it wasn´t a case of worse than usual leg cramps, she
must´ve been really struggling to finish.

It could be - this is pure speculation base on the typical cases of death during Finnish XC-skiing
mass events - that she hadn´t recovered from a flu and she had a lingering cardiac infection.

(In one truly freaky case, a young Finnish skier had sought to cure his flu by consuming large
amounts of lemon juice - presumably for its vitamin C content - and the resulting abnormal ph was a
crucial cause in the fatal case of arrhythmia.)

Anders

Donovan Rebbechi said:

In article said:

Mike Terry said:

Mortality in marathons/races is rare, despite the physical exertion.

Mike

This is true. Can anybody suggest a way to stop this disturbing trend?

Not really sure that it's a "trend", especially if you look at the number of people who are
running today compared to several years ago. I suppose one answer would be, "don't let non-elites
run the marathon".

For the average person running the marathon, things like proper hydration (neither dehydration nor
overhydration), proper preparation, and avoiding excessive heat would reduce the chances that they
will require medical assistance.

Now you may have hit it on the head. Some of the problems of late have been hydration issues wrapped
in a veil of not knowing better. This is not exactly a trend but more of a case where of collecting
the data and disseminating the preventative info back into the running community.

Of course there is always the spontaneous heart problem that shows on race day.

Does anyone know what the runner died from?????

Quoted message said:

I think these instances are quite alarming, and perhaps a sensible collection of safety hints
should be assembled and included in race packets, if this is not already the case.

I think it is done but just like there are speed limits on roads, they always apply to other guy.
I've taken my best shots at [censored] drinks like Gatorade vs carbs and salt for marathons and longer.

--
Doug Freese [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

This is indeed sad. Since I got back to the finish around 2:27 into the marathon, I heard about
5 ambulances leave the med tent with sirens on, and twice medical personnel bolt out from the
finish line to get people who collapses on approach. Some people have asked questions on here
like "I've only been training 2 months, can I do this marathon?" and some of us get a little
flak for recommending not. Yes, of course you can probably finish on that. But would I
personally recommend it? no. The Chicago paper reporting this death quoted a figure on marathon
deaths as 1/50,000 participants. This even sounds a little high to me, but if you consider I've
never heard of a truly well- trained runner dying, the odds are higher on lower training.

I'm not convinced it's the newcomer that ends up the worst. The newbie is usually scared [censored] and
usually dies(a pun) a slow death,
i.e a long walk. It's more likely the person with one or two under their belt that that are now
pushing the clock albeit a PB and Boston Qualifier. Not quite the experience yet the desire to
push through the discomfort but at times for the wrong reason.

One race two years ago had a very experienced ultra runner go into a coma from hyponatrenia(low
salt). She simply thought she was getting enough and was having a bad day.

Heat always takes it toll regardless of training level.

--
Doug Freese [email hidden]

I believe the numbers are as follows. 450,000 marathon runners in the US per year over 300
marathons, 4-6 die every year in the race. This number applies only to marathons...I am sure more
die in shorter distance events. More runners die routinely in their training/running from all sorts
of things from heart attacks to being hit by cars, etc. Again, these are US numbers.

Andrew....

Doug Freese said:

I'm not convinced it's the newcomer that ends up the worst. The newbie is usually scared [censored] and
usually dies(a pun) a slow death,
i.e a long walk. It's more likely the person with one or two under their belt that that are now
pushing the clock albeit a PB and Boston Qualifier. Not quite the experience yet the desire to
push through the discomfort but at times for the wrong reason.

Where did you come up with this bucket load of [censored]? If you believe this you are delusional. 9 out
of 10 running deaths are newbies who had no business being there in the first place. You may hear
about the more experienced dieing more often, but that's because it's more puzzling than when a fat,
overweight slob collapses and everyone says "See? I knew it..." but when an experienced marathoner
croaks off everyone talks about it.

Hi All,

Isn't the real point that there's an inherent contradiction in all exercise.

If you want to maximise the chances that you'll be alive and healthy in 10 years time then start
exercising now. If you want to maximise the chances that you'll be alive and healthy in 10 minutes
time then slowly move to a sitting or lying position and rest.

These two are contradictory but are both true. Most of us (on this list) sensibly opt for the long
term goal. Hence we repeated take short term risks.

Cheers,

Tim.

In article said:

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know what the runner died from?????

No. And I mean literally. They are still trying to work out what happened.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

In article said:

I believe the numbers are as follows. 450,000 marathon runners in the US per year over 300
marathons, 4-6 die every year in the race. This number applies only to marathons...I am sure more
die in shorter distance events. More runners die routinely in their training/running from all
sorts of things from heart attacks to being hit by cars, etc. Again, these are US numbers.

I remember one report of a fatality after a half marathon, but he was out there for about the same
amount of time a lot of people take to finish the marathon.

I'd suspect that the risks are much lower for shorter events, because the next (popular) event down
from the marathon is only half the distance, which greatly reduces the risks of dehydration and for
most people.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

In article <[email hidden]>, Grim Reaper
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Doug Freese said:

I'm not convinced it's the newcomer that ends up the worst. The newbie is usually scared [censored] and
usually dies(a pun) a slow death,
i.e a long walk. It's more likely the person with one or two under their belt that that are now
pushing the clock albeit a PB and Boston Qualifier. Not quite the experience yet the desire to
push through the discomfort but at times for the wrong reason.

Where did you come up with this bucket load of [censored]? If you believe this you are delusional. 9 out
of 10 running deaths are newbies who had no business being there in the first place. You may hear
about the more experienced dieing more often, but that's because it's more puzzling than when a
fat, overweight slob collapses and everyone says "See? I knew it..." but when an experienced
marathoner croaks off everyone talks about it.

The only (running) case I know of in this country was that of a 22 year old girl at the Bath
Half in 1998.

If a person has a faulty heart (see my earlier post) than training doesn't help much.

Heart conditions can be difficult to diagnose after death has occurred, though I suspect specialists
of having a diagnostic bias in whatever they happen to specialise in.

Post race medical assistance doesn't help much either as it is more common for collapse to occur
after the athlete has left the race venue.

Some people (including, for instance, the family of the above mentioned, advocate compulsory
pre-race medicals but in my view would be a serious infringement of human liberty and in any case I
am not convinced that general practitioners have the skills to make the right diagnosis.

--
Ken