Very sad. Any other details?
My boy kelly would be proud to know he made the famous letsrun message board, not that he frequented it to my knowledge..but that atleast he was recognized on a national level. Although Milestat gives the basic details, it was a truly tragic story with a silver lining of courage and determination. He died doing the one thing he loved most in the world, and he fought valiantly for 4 days in the hospital, just like he did in every race.
The heat index that day was well over 100 degrees, yet i don't think the heat crossed any runners mind that day, as scarily enough i was out doing a training run on the same back country road a mere 30 minutes before him. Kelly was a truly accomplished runner who obtained his accolades not through natural talent but rather through hard work and dedication. He was getting into great shape this summer, and I truly believe that with his bodies physiological durability and excellent coaching at William and Mary, Kelly would have gone on to be a magnificent runner to go along with the terrific person that he already was.
Anyways, keep Kelly in your prayers, and try to learn from this loss.
Very sad.
Thanks for sharing about Kelly.
This might not be obvious but he passed away in the hospital, 4 days after he was running.
As a runner, my heart goes out to Kelly's family. They will be in my thoughts and prayers. After surviving a near fatal team van wreck in April 04, thanks to a drunk driver, I know how special life is and how cherished my runs are.
Again, my thoughts and prayers are with Kelly's family.
Bump this. Awfully sad story.
This is truly sad, the death while running of a courageous young athlete. Kelly and his family sound wonderful. Condolences to all.
That said, I hope we will get more followup medical info. As runners who believe our sport to be 99.9 percent healthful, such followup is very important. My point: It's very difficult for a runner to die of heatstroke. There are few if any such reports in the medical literature.
Exertional heatstroke most often strikes in the following conditions: 1) extreme heat/humidity; 2) very high physical effort; 3) very high motivational effort, the "warrior" approach; 4) large athlete; 5) out of shape athlete, training again for first time in a while, and encountering high heat/humidity in first several days of training; 5) excessive clothing/padding; 6) male gender.
As you can tell, these conditions mostly spell out "football player in first days of training camp, trying to impress coach to maintain scholarship or million dollar contract."
They don't describe distance runner in shorts/singlet who has acclimatized to the conditions, and is doing a "normal" training run.
I know nothing about Kelly Watt, so can't comment on his fitness, his training, what he was doing for a workout last week, etc. If he had been training more or less continuously since the end of track season and doing an easy, steady, evening-time run (as one would hope, given the conditions), he shouldn't have had any problems. If he had taken two months off, and decided to come back with 6 x 1600 at noon, that's a totally different set of conditions.
Most runners who die while running are 1) hit by a vehicle; or 2) have an underlying heart condition, which can take any of several forms. I repeat: It is extraordinarily rare for a distance runner to die from heatstroke. Most of the guys who run themselves into heatstroke are warriors like Alberto Salazar (Falmouth), Ed Eyestone (Crescent City) or any of the unfortunates who find themselves forced to run an NCAA or Olympic Trials type 5000 or 10,000 in places like Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, Austin, and so on. And these guys survive, by the way, tho they aren't eager to run another race in a heat/humidity center.
Kelly Watt more likely died from another cause that was possibly triggered by the heat stress. I hope we learn more. I hope all will realize the importance of sharing such information, even in the face of this obvious tragedy.
Again, condolences to all who knew Kelly.
I agree with you that there might have been an underlying cause--heart ailment, etc--that was triggered by the heat. Extreme heat has a way of bringing out these kinds of things in unsuspecting athletes. This is a real difficult result to accept given his age and fitness level. I wish all the best for his family and friends.
This is sad. The School system in my town started school yesterday. Kids running, playing football, makes no sense.
Kelly was a great competitor and a truly good individual.
He did die from heat stroke. The problem is that he was unattended for around 4 hours after his collapse. For some reason, Kelly changed his plans last Tuesday and ran at a location that was different from the one that he had announced. This is why his family had difficulty finding him.
So here is the lesson for runners: be sure to let others know where you are running. This is especially true in the heat like we had last Tuesday afternoon, and when running solo.
Please pray for Kelly's parents, they have lost a great treasure in which they invested everything. They are tremendous people and they are hurting...
Horrible. Absolutely horrible. This is a good reminder for everyone to take care of themselves. An earlier poster suggested that we let people know where we are going on our daily runs and when we can be expected back. Not bad advice. Many of us are healthy, fit adults who often think we are invincible to weather. Please take care of yourselves on these hot days.
Lomg distance runners, especially younger ones, think of themselves as invincible, indeed, immortal. When the heat index is over 100, it is essential to seek as much shade as one can; never push the pace; always monitor oneself with the heat alays in mind; let people know where you'll be running; and, if possible, stay close to home. On days like the tragic one in question, I often run around my block. Finally, on such days it's essential to start hydrating early on. Pity the young man's poor parents and friends for their irreplacable loss.
As a former member of cross town rival western my thoughts go out to the Albemarle guys. WEJO the link on the front page incinuates that he was running at mid day, when in reality he was out there at 5:30 to 6:30 in the afternoon/evening. For the ones who think there may have been another underlying condition, reportedly he had renal failure.
As runners we all go out and run everyday. A lot of younger runners don't understand that pace needs to vary with the conditions, just as you can't run 6:00 pace up a mountain at the same effort as on the track, the heat also can have a huge effect.
Everybody stay hydrated and safe.
i am new to this website so if the webmaster reads this. PLEASE KEEP THIS THREAD ON THE FRONT PAGE SO ALL THE RUNNERS CAN KNOW ABOUT THE TRAGEDY. so they can take care of themselves better.
Man, I hate hearing stuff like this. Reminds me of Travis Landreth a few years ago. I agree with previous posts, I hope everyone takes more precautions with summer running and stays safe.
My thoughts and prayers are with Kelly's family and friends.
Dear Doubting,
While you present a good argument, runners are as at risk as football players, if not more. The data show the death rate for exertional heat stroke in high school and college football players at 1 in 350,000 per year over the last decade. I an annual road race run in hot conditions over the past 20 or more years the rate of heat stroke (non fatal) has been 1-2 per 1000 entrants. In an unpublished series from the last 2 years, there have been 8 heat strokes in 80,000 runners from over 2 years in 2 cool weather marathons. The running stats are not death rates because the heat strokes occur in heavily staffed races prepared to assess and treat the problem.
The point I am trying to make here is that runners are not immune to heat stroke and this young man probably did die of exertional heat stroke as reported.
The first three points on your post are critical and do not apply only to football players. Any athlete who produces more metabolic heat than can be removed from the body will develop hyperthermia and some will progress to heat stroke. Once the cascade of system failures begins in heat stroke, it is difficult to treat. The successful treatment at road races involves immediate recognition and cooling to bring the body temps down as fast as possible.
The greatest risk to runners is not the marathon distance, but rather the short fast race that lasts 30 to 90 minutes. Although dehydration may speed your fall in to hyperthermia, it is possible to get heat stroke and not be dehydrated to any significant degree.
Although Eyestone and company, often tolerate racing in high heat and humidity, the average runner does not do as well.
We all need to be aware of the dangers of heat and heat stroke is not the sole property of football players.
What can you do to protect yourself in the heat?
1) Slow down and run shorter duration workouts.
2) Run with a buddy.
3) Consider doing hard workouts in air conditioning.
4) Move longer duration workouts to the early AM.
5) Keep your urine the color of lemonade (hydrate but do not overhydrate).
6) Do not run hard in if you are ill with a virus, have a fever, are taking ephedra, or you have not had a chance to "cool" in the last 24 hours.
7) Do not run hard and long if you are not acclimated to the heat.
Don't be lulled into a false sense of security because you are lean, fit, and feeling good at the start. I have seen too many runners flirt with death in hot humid races to accept that this is a problem of big, unfit, people wearing pads.
My sincerest condolences to the family. The running community has lost an asset and friend.
Be safe out there,
Bill Roberts MD
Medical Director
Twin Citie Marathon
Not sure what the "cascade of system failures" is but I recall that Salazar was packed in ice after collapsing at Falmouth (or was it NYC '81?), and Jim Peters famously collapsed in Vancouver just 200 meters short of winning the 1954 Empire Games marathon.
Thanks for the advice.
Very sound advice... when an athlete gets depleted from lack of proper electrolytes and minerals that are sweated out in the course of all hot and humid runs this puts the runner at high risk. In my long running career, I was ignorant of how depleted I was of essential balance of minerals etc and was not doing anything in the realm of supplementation except for some decent Sports drinks and water... I have had several encounters now with IVs after warm weather races including marathons and a runner is ALWAYS more vunerable after one heat "episode" It is a very real and serious problem for all of us dealing with Summer in the USA.I am very sorry to learn of the death of this person and I hope it will motivate all of us to pay greater attention to our bodies when out there training in the hotter temps. I now take liquid vitamins and minerals as well as hydrate properly in order to try and prevent any more heat related problems......
bump