Sad News: Oldest women's finisher at 2013 New York City Marathon, Joy Johnson, dies day after race at 86

Not really classic for anything, difficult to say without examining her and knowing what symptoms she was having prior to passing. In an elderly person that falls and hits there head the biggest concern would be a subdural hemorrhage (blood around the inside of the skull that compresses the brain from ruptured veins). Hard to say if the fall and her death were actually related without knowing more.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Docs, is this a classic case of an aneurysm? Could the docs have even done anything if she had gone to the hospital?

Are you thinking that trauma from the fall caused a clot that caused a pulmonary embolism (versus an aneurysm)?

Could have been any number of things including cardiac arrest due to MI or arrythmia, stroke, pulmonary embolism, or rupture of an aneurysm. If it was preceded by a fall one would also have to consider an intracranial bleed like a subdural hematoma. Saying she was tired may or may not have been related to her death.

That is sad news. Hard to believe an 86 y.o. woman would even attempt the NYC marathon. She is deserving of some serious respect.

Don't know about the medical angle, but I hope I am running like that when I'm 86. It's hard to imagine.

Am I a monster If I lol'ed at this at first?

Quickly! wrote:

Am I a monster If I lol'ed at this at first?

Yes, but that was a rhetorical question.

18 minute miles is not running. Just saying. At least LRC put up an appropriate title while the NY Daily News did not.

My respect for "finishers" has increased.

Run in peace, Joy.

I guess she can be forgiven for her stubbornness for she is old. Her actions would have been more questionable had she been younger and still died. My paternal figure died due to an aneurysm. He was 71. If he had died because of running a marathon I would not have approved of it.

jaw agape wrote:

That is sad news. Hard to believe an 86 y.o. woman would even attempt the NYC marathon. She is deserving of some serious respect.

She was a fool, unless she wanted to die. Marathoning is not healthy for anyone, especially someone of that age

When I read it and saw that she had fallen and hit her head and died the next day, my first thoughts included :

1) Did the fall play a role in her death?

2) With what we know about head injuries and concussions should she have been allowed to continue? (Yes people can refuse medical attention)

Mouther wrote:

She was a fool, unless she wanted to die. Marathoning is not healthy for anyone, especially someone of that age

Everyone dies. Not everyone truly lives.

luv2run wrote:

When I read it and saw that she had fallen and hit her head and died the next day, my first thoughts included :

1) Did the fall play a role in her death?

2) With what we know about head injuries and concussions should she have been allowed to continue? (Yes people can refuse medical attention)

I don't know that it's ever been stated anywhere that she had a head injury, it's just a speculative possibility.

"On the first day of practice, I had a team meeting and talked about my vision for the program. I said the goals are the same each and every year - to win the Heps in cross-country and make nationals. However, those aren't really my goals at all for the program - that's the bare minimum starting point."

-Rojo

She could have fallen for the same reason died.

embrace the apocalypse wrote:

I guess she can be forgiven for her stubbornness for she is old. Her actions would have been more questionable had she been younger and still died. My paternal figure died due to an aneurysm. He was 71. If he had died because of running a marathon I would not have approved of it.

Paternal figure? What was that, a cardboard cut out?

She has bandages on her head in the photo in the article.

I was scrolling down the thread waiting to see some douche take a swipe at this lady. Most eighty year olds can't take themselves to the bathroom. Let alone knock off 26.2 miles, including a fall at mile 20 that requires bandages.You are a little person.

barry mccockiner wrote:

18 minute miles is not running. Just saying. At least LRC put up an appropriate title while the NY Daily News did not.