Gruesome: Elite shatters femur after colliding with non-elite in Toronto

Sounds like the non-elite had stronger bones

Oh jesus. That's absolutely gruesome, as you said. I'm normally not a fan of "trigger warnings," but they should really warn you that you're about to see a picture of a leg folding in half along the femur.

bkrunner wrote:

Oh jesus. That's absolutely gruesome, as you said. I'm normally not a fan of "trigger warnings," but they should really warn you that you're about to see a picture of a leg folding in half along the femur.

Thanks for the warning.

In a race the size of Toronto, they really should put the elite fluids in the middle of the road. Once the elites pass, volunteers move the tables out of the way. Otherwise, have the regular water station on one side of the road and the elites on the other to make sure there are no collisions. Elite runners should not have to filter through locals to get fluids. Very poor management.

Precious Roy wrote:

In a race the size of Toronto, they really should put the elite fluids in the middle of the road. Once the elites pass, volunteers move the tables out of the way. Otherwise, have the regular water station on one side of the road and the elites on the other to make sure there are no collisions. Elite runners should not have to filter through locals to get fluids. Very poor management.

There seems to be a disconnect in your argument.

On the one side you think there is a gap between when the 'elites' pass through and when the rest of the riff-raff arrive that the volunteers have time to move tables across the road.

On the other you seem to think that the elites are mixed in with the locals when trying to get their fluids.

Which is it?

(Assuming you go with the first option, how much of a gap do you think there would be between the elites and the locals at, say the 5km water stop? Would that gap be enough to move tables or would there be a chance a lagging elite or fast local is going to run full tilt into a table being dragged across their path?)

This was a terrible injury.

However it was not a "horrific collision".

She moved in front of another runner (who was going the same pace, and never left his line).

She got her heel clipped, and stumbled.

She hit a cable car track when she stumbled.

Not MY Fault wrote:

This was a terrible injury.

However it was not a "horrific collision".

She moved in front of another runner (who was going the same pace, and never left his line).

She got her heel clipped, and stumbled.

She hit a cable car track when she stumbled.

Then apparently her goon went after the other runner and ruined his race.

how could this physically happen . . . just forces going in the wrong direction along the bone?

The implication from Chepchirchir's agency, Volare Sports, that the other runner was a 'jogger' is insulting... unless they're also calling Chepchirchir a jogger since they were both running the same pace. The guy she cut in front of had every right to be there and run his race. He did after all train for it for months like everyone else.

It's Chepchirchir's fault for not being more aware of where her elite water tables were setup on the road and when they'd be coming up; Surely they covered this during the technical meeting before the race. I heard that none of the Kenyan women in that pack made it over to the table so clearly it was a last-second decision to cut across the road. They should've moved over sooner, with time to spare, and this accident could've been avoided.

Imagine if this had happened in a less developed country like the USA. She would be going home with a bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Looks like the real culprit was the streetcar track.

Under what mystical spectrum are you defining elite vs. non-elite?

clickclickboom! wrote:

Under what mystical spectrum are you defining elite vs. non-elite?

Probably the mystical spectrum of a woman runner with a marathon best of 2:23 vs. a male runner that was behind her in a race.

Greedy Doctor wrote:

Imagine if this had happened in a less developed country like the USA. She would be going home with a bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Huh? Unless she has private medical insurance she WILL be going home with a big hospital bill. Only Canadian residents who pay (exorbitant) taxes get "free" health care in Canada.

Agree that the "jogger" comment is insulting and unnecessary from her agent. Whomever she collided with was running at the same pace as her, so unless she is a "jogger"...he's not either.

Precious Roy wrote:

In a race the size of Toronto, they really should put the elite fluids in the middle of the road. Once the elites pass, volunteers move the tables out of the way. Otherwise, have the regular water station on one side of the road and the elites on the other to make sure there are no collisions. Elite runners should not have to filter through locals to get fluids. Very poor management.

According to article, rec runner was running in straight line and elite cut over sharply. Any contact that occurred is on elite runner.

Furthermore, athlete didn't break leg because of what was apparently very minor contact, but because elite randomly got foot wedged in streetcar track while catching her balance. It was a horrible freak accident.

Definitely not the fault of male rec runner or race organizers. I feel awful for injured athlete but trying to pin this on somebody else is silly. $&"@ happens...

I can't remember the last sizable race that I ran that didn't have tables on BOTH sides of the road at each water stop. Runners should not have to all cut over to the same side of the road for fluids.

Was this strictly an elite water stop? If so, the elites should have know which side of the road to be on. The male pacer seemed to be directing the women he was pacing. Why didn't he know?

cooperaa wrote:

The implication from Chepchirchir's agency, Volare Sports, that the other runner was a 'jogger' is insulting... unless they're also calling Chepchirchir a jogger since they were both running the same pace. The guy she cut in front of had every right to be there and run his race. He did after all train for it for months like everyone else.

It's Chepchirchir's fault for not being more aware of where her elite water tables were setup on the road and when they'd be coming up; Surely they covered this during the technical meeting before the race. I heard that none of the Kenyan women in that pack made it over to the table so clearly it was a last-second decision to cut across the road. They should've moved over sooner, with time to spare, and this accident could've been avoided.

Agree 100%.

The elite bottle station setup was made very clear at the technical meeting. Tables were always on the right side of the road. The location of the bottle stations were listed both in the technical meeting and the email sent out to invited elite runners. I was further back of Chepchirchir but it was still a little crowded at that point in the race. Approaching the 5k mark, I knew I had to get over to the right because I knew where the table was at the 5k mark (because I listened at the technical meeting), so I drifted right and made a point of telling the guys around me what I was doing. Ridiculous that an entire pack and their pacers abruptly cut across the road because they weren't paying attention.

Man Overboard wrote:

Huh? Unless she has private medical insurance she WILL be going home with a big hospital bill. Only Canadian residents who pay (exorbitant) taxes get "free" health care in Canada.

I'm guessing the Toronto Marathon is on the hook. They invited her to run, had pacers who misdirected the elites, had non-elite males mixed in, and most egregiously they ran a race down a street that had cable-car tracks in the middle with gaps wide enough to break a leg.

Daniel A. Gore, Esq. wrote:

I'm guessing the Toronto Marathon is on the hook. They invited her to run, had pacers who misdirected the elites, had non-elite males mixed in, and most egregiously they ran a race down a street that had cable-car tracks in the middle with gaps wide enough to break a leg.

The TV footage makes it pretty clear that the "non-elite" male was running in the same pack as the "elite" female for an extended period of time. They were running the exact same pace. The "elite" female was negligent in not looking where she was going. Hardly the race director's fault. Plus, thousands of other runners somehow avoided breaking their legs on those tracks.

I hope she's covered by insurance. I assume she is. But what happened to her is her OWN fault, not the fault of the race organizers, and certainly the male runner whom her agent is trying to vilify.