2 runners die today @ Philly Marathon

Weird - probably in 50s during the race today, so not like a freakishly hot day did them in.

bummer. i hope they didn't have kids. and their poor parents...

Condolences to the families.

I find it interesting that it's almost always men who die in marathons, even though 40-50% of a marathon field is women. I don't remember ever reading about a woman dying during a marathon.

I was there pacing a friend and will say it couldn't have been weather related. Anytime something like this happens it is a tremendously sad.

any more details on these guys? What their level of training and was? I think stats should be put out there to show the general public that marathons can be dangerous if you're not properly trained.

Anytime you get 25000+ people together performing rigorous exercise, there's a good chance someone's going to die. This is the reality now that marathons have become so popular. You could be as stringent as you want on fitness, and there's still a reasonable chance that people are going to die.

virginia runner wrote:

any more details on these guys? What their level of training and was? I think stats should be put out there to show the general public that marathons can be dangerous if you're not properly trained.

On a news piece i saw they said the 21 year old was taken to the hospital around 9:30. The race started at 7:00 so, if he was running the full, he was in pretty good shape.

They use the term runner rather liberally these days

virginia runner wrote:

any more details on these guys? What their level of training and was? I think stats should be put out there to show the general public that marathons can be dangerous if you're not properly trained.

Lack of training has nothing to do with people dying in marathons.

Some of the comments on this article are absolutely ridiculous

thewolf wrote:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sportsinq/Two-runners-die-at-Philadelphia-Marathon.html?cmpid=124488429&jCount=2comments

ALMOST ALL OF THE comments on this article are absolutely ridiculous

Edited for accuracy.

Jake69 wrote:

http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/7261093/two-runners-die-collapsing-philadelphia-marathon

21 year old male collapses @ finish line.

40 year old male collapses 1/4 mile from finish line.

Sad but makes me wonder were they undertrained, hopefully they didn't try to sprint to the finish. R.I.P.

Discuss!

I'm sure insufficient training doesn't help, but I have read a lot more about too much caffeine being a factor in many of the recent marathon deaths.

Here is a recent article on the topic from before NYC:

I have seen the 200mg on race day limit in other places as well. With some gels having as much as 100mg of caffeine, it is pretty easy to go far beyond that limit if you are taking multiple gels and have a prerace coffee. So, as the article suggests, spread the word about limiting caffeine on race day.

We'll have to wait and see if caffeine was a factor in these two cases.

Regardless, it is a sad day for the families of these two individuals, and in the off chance that they read this, I wish them my sincerest condolences.

Even elite marathoners have died in competition. Remember the Olympic trials a few years ago? Sudden cardiac events can affect very fit runners, with no prior warning. It is the nightmare of any physician charged with clearing athletes for competition. Those on this thread making comments about 'they call anything running these days' should really not be making such comments.

thewolf wrote:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sportsinq/Two-runners-die-at-Philadelphia-Marathon.html?cmpid=124488429&jCount=2comments

Some of the comments on this article are absolutely ridiculous

Philly.com is notorious for moronic comments. You should have seen the McNabb years and the racist comments.

I overheard that the 21 year old was a Nursing student in the city.

+1

I've noticed that a lot of these deaths happen either right at the finish line or shortly before it. My theory is that its due to the extra stress of sprinting in the final few yards of a marathon which does the damage. I coast in for that reason. I give up a few places but I figure its cheap insurance.

Bell Lapper wrote:

I've noticed that a lot of these deaths happen either right at the finish line or shortly before it. My theory is that its due to the extra stress of sprinting in the final few yards of a marathon which does the damage. I coast in for that reason. I give up a few places but I figure its cheap insurance.

Do you coast in on the Bell Lap as well, Bell Lapper?

these gels, one of which I took after 2:15 of the marathon (w/under a half hour to go), have 50 mg of caffeine.

http://www.powerbar.com/articles/218/caffeine-and-athletic-performance.aspx

VF Runner wrote:

thewolf wrote:http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sportsinq/Two-runners-die-at-Philadelphia-Marathon.html?cmpid=124488429&jCount=2comments

ALMOST ALL OF THE comments on this article are absolutely ridiculous

Edited for accuracy.

I wonder if the people talking about how dangerous marathons are, did they actually read the article, or did the story get updated?

From that philly.com link:

"According to the event’s website, Lee finished the half-marathon in 1 hour, 58 minutes and 10 seconds. He had a pace of 9:02 and finished the first 10 kilometers in 53:45."