Chicago Marathon Runner Dies After Collapse

Probably sudden cardiac death. I'm sure we'll have another cascade of news articles about how marathoning is dangerous and everyone should get an EKG before they start any physical activity...just what we need, another incentive for Americans not to exercise.

Also, Fagan is not dead.

did I say he died , I said he collapsed

Piecing together from what the race director said at a 3 pm news conference, it was a 35 year old man from Greensboro, NC. He collapsed 500 yards shy of the finish line, was quickly attended to by nearby EMT's and briefly revived but died in the hospital an hour later.

Checking the results with said parameters - deceased was one Will Caviness, aged 35 from Greensboro. He was on pace to finish in 3:05 but his time marks stop at 40k. He was a chief with the Greensboro Fire Department.

What a tragedy.

uh yes, but you didn't point out the 'still alive' part. Just kinda left it hanging there.

sorry for that........

This is Will Caviness' fundraising page, raising funds for a burns center.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Will-Caviness-Chicago-Marathon-IAFF-Burn-Foundation/224668207544996

His prior marathon finish was at 2010 Outer Banks where he netted a 3:17. Definitely not a penguin.

dfasd wrote:

Probably sudden cardiac death. I'm sure we'll have another cascade of news articles about how marathoning is dangerous and everyone should get an EKG before they start any physical activity...just what we need, another incentive for Americans not to exercise.

Not to sound like Chicken Little, but marathon running does put an enormous physical load/stress on the body. I'm not saying it isn't a good thing to do for fitness, but I give thanks every time I cross the finish line that I didn't have something happen on the course.

This case reminds me of the guy at the Lake Wobegon marathon in May, Paul Melby age 35, who got his first BQ time by 20 some seconds then died of cardiac arrest. He left a widow and three young children behind.

AlmostBQ wrote:

This is Will Caviness' fundraising page, raising funds for a burns center.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Will-Caviness-Chicago-Marathon-IAFF-Burn-Foundation/224668207544996

His prior marathon finish was at 2010 Outer Banks where he netted a 3:17. Definitely not a penguin.

Wow...did you see the photo posted on his wall 10-6?

It said:

At mile 20 I thought I was dead.

At mile 22 I wished I was dead.

At mile 22 I knew I was dead.

At mile 26.2 I realized I had become too tough to kill.

He died at mile 26...

Holy crap...

So what caused this?

How does someones heart just stop?

He was 35 and probably had exercised for years so a heart deformity is probably out of the question.

Bad diet? Too much cholesterol? Clogged arteries? What?

btw time to pig out of some red meat and cheese. ummmmmm yummy.

"He was 35 and probably had exercised for years so a heart deformity is probably out of the question."

Absolutely untrue.

Not my real name wrote:

Wow...did you see the photo posted on his wall 10-6?

It said:

At mile 20 I thought I was dead.

At mile 22 I wished I was dead.

At mile 24 I knew I was dead.

At mile 26.2 I realized I had become too tough to kill.

He died at mile 26...

Holy crap...

Probably meant as a bit of swagger, but surely with jest. He sounded like he had trained dutifully for this race and was well prepared. Something just gave out today.

The heart is a pump wrote:

So what caused this?

How does someones heart just stop?

He was 35 and probably had exercised for years so a heart deformity is probably out of the question.

Bad diet? Too much cholesterol? Clogged arteries? What?

btw time to pig out of some red meat and cheese. ummmmmm yummy.

I would guess a previously unknown heart defect, or quite possibly stress from the high temperatures and his pushing a pretty brisk pace. Not to say that running fast risks death, but that perhaps he just pushed too hard and his heart gave out.

His pace was pretty solid - link is to his pace page:

.

My doctor has treated several winners of major marathons. He told me most deaths in the marathon happen very close to the finish line like this one. His theory was that sometimes people try to kick too hard and when they have the adrenaline surge, their heart can't take it and goes into an arythmia. He gave me the following advice:

1) avoid caffiene and caffiene pills. They don't help much and can cause trouble, especially if you have some underlying heart condition.

2) don't kick like a maniac when you are close to the finish. Try to pick up the pace earlier and run consistently to the finish line. If you have a huge kick, you should have been pushing harder anyway.

It seems to be mostly fit people you hardly see back of the packers go down doing 4-5 hours or ultrae marathoners either, and it always seems to happen near the end. I'm sticking to half marathons it seems a safer distance for running hard.

never running a marathon wrote:

It seems to be mostly fit people you hardly see back of the packers go down doing 4-5 hours or ultrae marathoners either, and it always seems to happen near the end. I'm sticking to half marathons it seems a safer distance for running hard.

Detroit Marathon Deaths: 3 Runners Die During Half Marathon In Detroit

trytrytrytounderstand wrote:

2) don't kick like a maniac when you are close to the finish. Try to pick up the pace earlier and run consistently to the finish line. If you have a huge kick, you should have been pushing harder anyway.

I will go out on a limb and suggest that Will Caviness was vigorously trying to get a BQ-5 for his age group for 2013 (3:05 for 35-39 age bracket) and just pushed too hard at the end.

Picayune wrote:

AlmostBQ wrote:

His prior marathon finish was at 2010 Outer Banks where he netted a 3:17. Definitely not a penguin.

For a guy aged 35, 3:17 sure as hell is slow. He was a charity penguin, like it or not.

A charity penguin by my definition is someone who wears a purple TNT shirt and a marathon is typically their first race of any distance - couch to marathon program.

This guy was running for a charity, but it wasn't the charity that got him his entry, unlike a BAA charity arrangement. He entered Chicago on his own inclination and just chose to raise money along the way for a cause truly near to him on a day to day work basis (fire burn victims).

This guy wasn't that. Okay, so he wasn't angling for the Olympic trials, but 3:05 today is not a walk in the park. Based on his Facebook comments on training, he was putting in good amounts of tempo runs at low 6's, intervals and long runs.

I would guess that in any five-hour period, in a random sampling of 45,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 70 just sitting around or performing light activities, it's more likely than not that at least one of them dies.