Will Ryan Shays death during the 2007 trials go down as the most tragic race event to a elite runner

Everyone I knew who knew him said he was a great guy. I was at the ND Navy game in South Bend when they announced his death over the loud speaker. Alicia is a couple degrees separated. A number of relatives went and ran the marathon in his honor. A tragic story.

Rest peacefully

i got diagnosed with hypertrophy cardiomyopathy in 2023 after an irregular ECG scan picked up on it plus heart murmurs.

Went for an echocardiogram to confirm the diagnosis. Had to pretty much quit running as well as pretty much all semi to intense sports.

I'm only 26, life is pretty miserable, can only lift weights now even though my actual passion is distance running. But hey, I guess it's better than dropping dead out of nowhere.

Apologies for the random sharing as an nobody dude, but I guess the moral of the story is that it is important to go for yearly checkups. You never know what you may have.

Wait, what the???

Details.

I was there at the trials when Ryan died. It was tragic and shocking. I remember hoping he was okay and finding out later that he had passed. Ryan Hall won easily that day and Dathan ran well. Meb had some injury (labrum?) which made it possible for Sell to make the team. I love Sell’s story and it was awesome to see him and the team but, yeah, pre-race I think many people thought Shay had a legit shot to make the team.

I was kid when the other incident happened but I also remember hearing about that. Also a tragedy but I think Shay’s death was the most tragic big profile race related incident (other than maybe the Boston Marathon bombing) in my lifetime.

You surely are joking here? Why is it any more tragic whether he “had a chance to make the team” or not? I guess this is your sense of humor? Even if a runner who was likely to finish 15th or so had died it would still be just as tragic.

I was there and it sucked. Walking away from the race people were in shock. I can not really describe the let down.

There was an after party that night at a place called Rosie’s I think. It was a lot of fun and it seemed people were having a good time. I am sure things were a bit more subdued than they would have been had Ryan not died.

I mean no disrespect. That happened a long time ago and the memories are a bit fuzzy.

I was also there but didn't hear the news until after the race. My friend said "Shay died" and at first I thought that just meant he blew up in the late stages... Didn't know him well but had mutual friends. I still try to go and find Shay's Rock at the spot in Central Park when I am in town.

He was a good guy and I'm glad people still remember.

In 1912 Francisco Lazaro died after collapsing in the Olympic Marathon.

A masters, former Canadian National team cyclist died a few years ago from coronary artery disease. He was still extremely fit.

My dad died of a heart attack suddenly. He wasn't a runner, though.

High schooler Chiara Dailey was born a couple hours after Ryan died and her parents gave her the middle name Shay

I was there, too. I volunteered for the Trials and ran NYC the next day. I had to move part of the barrier in Central Park to let an ambulance through, and it almost certainly was the one that had Shay inside. I remember people being completely dumbfounded when the news broke.

That race featured a dominating performance by Ryan Hall. He was at the front of the lead pack in the penultimate lap around the park, and had broken to develop a huge lead by the final lap. This was also the race gave ultra running phenomenon Michael Wardian a lot of exposure, as Wardian lead early by running even splits while the eventual winners went out conservatively.

I do think there’s an extra layer of tragedy when someone passes while in the middle of accomplishing an extraordinary life long goal. I think it’s the loss of that dream that makes it more tragic, not the loss of the person.
Whether it’s someone in 1st or someone in 15th is equally tragic in the loss of life, but to outsiders, non family members, and just fans of the sport, seeing a dream die as well makes the person in 1st place feel more tragic.

I was so excited for what was yet to come for Ryan prior to his death. New sponsor, new team, that was in the works for January 2008.

Ryan Shay cause of death: The report also clarified that although hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) was originally suspected, further investigation did not confirm HCM as the cause.