3 Detroit marathon runners die

[47of74]

Source: CNN

(CNN) — Three runners died Sunday during the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon in Detroit, Michigan, police told CNN.

All three deaths occurred between 9 and 9:20 a.m. ET, Second Deputy Chief John Roach said.

A man in his 60s fell and hit his head, Roach said. The cause of the fall was unknown. The man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two other men, aged 36 and 26, also collapsed during the race and were pronounced dead at the hospital, Roach said.

Read more: http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/18/3-detroit-marathon-runners-die/

[shadowknows69]

1. Horrible news.

[tomm2thumbs]

2. 36 and 26 year olds - surprising numbers and very sad for a health-related event

[robo50]

3. Very disturbing, one has to wonder about this

in the Boston Marathon, sometimes held on hot days or cold days in April, thousands participate, seldom is there ever a death.

What might be the common factors here? Untrained runners? Food poisoning, water contamination? One has to wonder.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

[indepat]

33. Bingo! Making the heart to beat too fast is a sure way to kill a healthy younger person

[eridani]

32. Probably hydration problems or heat stress.

I remember a Boston Marathon in the 80s where one of the top finishers had to be put in a tub of ice water to bring his core temperature down.

[wordpix]

39. something in the air?

[sasquatch]

4. Has it dawned upon any one that you shouldn't run a fucking marathon

Considering the first guy to ever do it dropped dead at the end.

[Wizard777]

7. I hear you. Living healthy will kill you quick.

I'll stick with my weed, cigarettes, and the occasional drink to clean everything out. But what do I know about living long? I'm only 77.

[natrat]

19. jim beam and a couple of strippers is good livin

[ohheckyeah]

26. My aunt who is 86

told her doctor she didn't want to take cholesterol medication any longer because it made her tired. When he protested she replied, "it's too late for me to die young."

[cabluedem]

41. Cholestrol meds can do that and other bad things like liver damage to the human body. nt

[The Stranger]

45. Almost every "med" can do "bad things like liver damage."

Even some natural non-"meds" can do "bad things like liver damage."

[question everything]

29. Good genes. You survived childhood when many did not

and you reached this young age without the benefits of vaccination and antibiotics... at least in your early years.

Cheers.

:toast:

[Brickbat]

10. Right on.

I've never understood celebrating people who do stupid things like this.

[midnight armadillo]

24. Humans are born to run

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41fpSM7oO2L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303

There is a serious argument that evolving for long distance runnning shaped much of the human body.

Sitting on the couch is far more dangerous than pursuing sports. Heart disease, diabetes, etc kill too.

[Psephos]

28. Lookee here, we have our first payer of the new Obamacare fitness-standard surcharge. ;)

And we thank you in advance for spreading memes likely to enrich the funding pool. :)

[Wizard777]

6. We had one runner die in Baltimore's marathon this year.

No he wasn't shot or stabbed.

[imdjh]

11. LOL!!!

[Deja Q]

20. !

:spank:

:rofl:

[superconnected]

36. This happens all the time in marathons. I notice because my boss runs them.

correction, he runs in them.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. and yet I hear that those who are 'active' should pay less

for insurance because those who are involved in sports never suffer any need for medical treatment. The active lifestyle! So healthy they drop in threes!

[rambler_american]

22. I think you missed the point

These three people should pay less for health insurance because they do not need medical treatment. They're dead. Insurance companies dream of such clients.

[nolabear]

9. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

I hate that things like this just happen, but they do.

[FarCenter]

12. Three died out of 19,326 in the race -- not bad odds

http://www.freep.com/article/20091018/SPORTS23/91018032/1318/A-joyous--sobering-race

[Zynx]

44. Three out of 19,326 died in a twenty minute period. If that happened routinely

that would be a disaster. We would all be gone pretty quick. People have to realize that you have to be well conditioned to run a marathon. It isn't something you can just pick up and do.

[girl gone mad]

13. A young woman died in a Dallas marathon last year..

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121508dnmetrunner.624c09e2.html

I'll never understand the glorification of extreme exercise. It's so hard on the body, even if you're in good health.

[Bigmack]

14. Agreed!

[EFerrari]

15. The adrenaline rush is quite addictive.

My son and I used to do long runs together. It took days to come down.

[Codeine]

16. If it's so hard on the body

why are so many people fine when they do it? Almost twenty thousand people ran and there were three deaths, and that was a wild outlier. Most of the time nobody dies.

[Posteritatis]

30. Hey now, kneejerk reactions are all about focusing on the wild outliers! (nt)

[paulsby]

17. that is certainly odd

i've run two marathons myself, and marshaled two others.

the only marathon that ever had a death that i was aware of (i happened to be voluntering as a marshal), was the maui run to the sun.

this wasn't a classic marathon 26 miles 385 yds.

this was THE RUN TO THE SUN

which goes from sea level to 10,000 ft in about 37 miles

the guy, a japanese national, died of hyponatremia (he actually drank too much water and depleted his electrolytes. very rare, but not unheard of. that's why at least SOME of your water intake during a marathon should contain electrolytes (gatorade, etc.))

[Not a robought]

18. For all anybody knows

the runners who died might have had high blood pressure or a heart condition.

Don't watch the sodium in your diet, drink lots of water and bada boom.

[keith the dem]

21. I've seen people run marathons

that were in no way prepared for it. Promoters will just take the entry fees from anybody willing to pay it. Some folks will do it just to say they ran a marathon, even though it took them 5 hours to finish in pain. There really needs to be some way to qualify people for these races. For instance, they should run a few half marathons first.

That said, the heart condition that did in Jim Fix, seems to be rare but common with some really good athletes.

[Regret My New Name]

23. You have to pay to run in a marathon?

reworded: You have to pay to run outside in a public location?

protip: I run outside all the time... and I get to do it for free!!!
(yes, I'm just being a smartass)

[BadgerKid]

27. There's permits, police rental, food costs,

to name a few things.

[Regret My New Name]

34. yea...

I'm just being me.

[AntiFascist]

38. There's also Marfan's Syndrome...

which occasionally kills athletes. If you are tall and your wingspan is greater than your height, then you could be a candidate.

[Celebration]

25. oh, so sad

My daughter ran in the Tokyo marathon this year. She said it was a first and last for her (thank goodness!) I never thought they were that safe. Half marathon maybe...........

[Dulcinea]

31. Eventually we will all die from something.

I'll bet these marathoners died doing what they loved. A marathoner friend of mine says that's the way she wants to go!

All kidding aside, I've been a runner for 25 years, and will continue to do so until and unless I can't run anymore. I'm addicted to the endorphins. I feel like a disgusting slug when I don't work out. (All you runners out there will understand.) Doing a marathon takes an incredible amount of preparation and dedication. That's definitely something to celebrate.

[mule_train]

43. i'd rather die of overindulgence, than overwork

but that's just me

[brentspeak]

35. Absolutely nothing in Detroit is going right, these days

Things just keep getting worse and worse.

[fujiyama]

37. Some doctors argue

that the human body isn't really made to withstand that sort of intense physical activity. A full marathon stresses your heart in ways few other activities do. The pressure on the feet and legs is also very great.

It takes a lot of preparation for a marathon and I think everyone embarking on one should get a thorough physical done to rule out an arrhythmia, or other congenital defects or abnormalities that may not be apparent beforehand.

I remember talking to a friend of mine that runs them and he mentioned someone that was struggling and eventually had sustained some injuries. He had good advice - just because you may be ABLE To run one, doesn't mean you actually should. But there's risk involved in just about every activity we take. People just need to understand them.

[wordpix]

40. I remember a hs senior running by puking in our town's annual marathon

She was a top athlete. When I asked her afterward how she could run and puke at the same time without stopping, she said she didn't even know she had puked. :crazy: Marathoners must be in some kind of other zone.

[Vinca]

42. So I guess we can add marathon runners to the list of people

who must pay more for health coverage, right after the fat people. This, in a nutshell, is why everyone should get the same benefits for the same price. Someone can appear to be the picture of health and drop dead the next minute.