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3 people die during Detroit Marathon

post #1 of 22
10/19/09 at 10:06am
Thread Starter 
Three people dying in one marathon...wow. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...WS24/910190363
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post #2 of 22
10/19/09 at 10:43am
Wow: I figured - it being Detroit and all - that at least one was a GSW or some such.
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post #3 of 22
10/19/09 at 11:06am
There is a good reason why people train for marathons, and triathlons, etc...
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post #4 of 22
10/19/09 at 11:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
There is a good reason why people train for marathons, and triathlons, etc...

I'm sure these people trained as well, but most marathon training programs are (IMHO) too light for the distance covered. Some first-timer programs have a longest training run of 18 miles - which leaves the last 8 miles as unchartered territory. Then there's Gallowalking which is a great and innovative way for people to fool themselves into thinking they're in better shape than they are. I've never tried Team in Training or any of the local 'fit' programs to know how they work, but I remain skeptical.

And: a visit to the cardiologist should be mandatory for first-timers.
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post #5 of 22
10/19/09 at 1:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
I'm sure these people trained as well, but most marathon training programs are (IMHO) too light for the distance covered. Some first-timer programs have a longest training run of 18 miles - which leaves the last 8 miles as unchartered territory. Then there's Gallowalking which is a great and innovative way for people to fool themselves into thinking they're in better shape than they are. I've never tried Team in Training or any of the local 'fit' programs to know how they work, but I remain skeptical. And: a visit to the cardiologist should be mandatory for first-timers.
So, they weren't that well trained after all, were they?
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post #6 of 22
10/19/09 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
There is a good reason why people train for marathons, and triathlons, etc...

Yeah, one of the guys who died had completed over 50 marathons. I'm not sure it was lack of prep that did him in. And the guy who was 26 had just finished the 1/2 in 1:53, which makes me think he might have been doing some training along the way as well. I think I'm going to go with a confluence of shitty luck as the cause.
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post #7 of 22
10/19/09 at 1:44pm
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Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
So, they weren't that well trained after all, were they?

Well, you didn't specify that people should train 'well'
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post #8 of 22
10/19/09 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnny_flapjack View Post
Yeah, one of the guys who died had completed over 50 marathons. I'm not sure it was lack of prep that did him in. And the guy who was 26 had just finished the 1/2 in 1:53, which makes me think he might have been doing some training along the way as well. I think I'm going to go with a confluence of shitty luck as the cause.

Well, I'm not a runner (I'm a cyclist), but someone who is well trained knows when something is not right and it's probably time to stop. I mean even on the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana, riders pull off to the sides when they know that it's probably not best if they try to keep on going.
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post #9 of 22
10/19/09 at 1:46pm
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Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
Well, you didn't specify that people should train 'well'

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post #10 of 22
10/19/09 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
Well, I'm not a runner (I'm a cyclist), but someone who is well trained knows when something is not right and it's probably time to stop. I mean even on the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana, riders pull off to the sides when they know that it's probably not best if they try to keep on going.

I think that's a little different though: Once you've trained a while you understand how 'normal' distress ought to feel and get used to it. For a lot of adult-onset athletes, the normal race-day distress is unchartered territory for a while and there's a lot of guesswork going on. Without much experience on that front, the default thought tends to be: everyone is still going, I guess I should as well. At least that's the more common case.

But has Johnny noted above: at least two of these runners ought to have known what was going on and might have ignored it and forged ahead. Given that these are yearly races, and you train so long for one...it's hard to pull away and say, well...I don't have it this year - maybe next year. That's hard to do - especially if you don't think you're pushing yourself in the first place.
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post #11 of 22
10/20/09 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by imageWIS View Post
Well, I'm not a runner (I'm a cyclist), but someone who is well trained knows when something is not right and it's probably time to stop. I mean even on the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana, riders pull off to the sides when they know that it's probably not best if they try to keep on going.

Because top-level professional athletes are familiar enough with their bodies (because of using them to work out as a full-time job) that they know when to stop an amateur should have the same level of familiarity? Poor example, IMO. Jim Fixx wrote a book called The Complete Book of Running, but he still died of a heart attack right after his daily run.
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post #12 of 22
10/20/09 at 8:44am
Great thread, I will now fear for my life everytime I run a marathon . Guess there's always the treadmill. *puts filter on news articles with <treadmill> and <death> together*
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post #13 of 22
10/20/09 at 11:40am
Im not surprised considering Pheidippides died afterwards. I thought that was the whole point? To die. If not then you didn't try hard enough.
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post #14 of 22
10/20/09 at 11:41am
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Originally Posted by Ge Fuzz View Post
Im not surprised considering Pheidippides died afterwards. I thought that was the whole point? To die.

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post #15 of 22
10/20/09 at 4:12pm
Sometimes, it's just your time.
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