Tragedy at the Tucson Marathon
I have wanted to run a marathon for a few years now and have never been able to work up to it. Now I am not sure that I am still interested in adding ‘running a marathon’ to my list of accomplishments. My change of heart comes from the news of the death of Marc Witkes. Sadly, at this year’s Tucson Marathon, which took place December 10th, Marc Witkes an elite runner from Durango, Colorado went into cardiac arrest and died less than 1/2 mile from the finish line. This is a harsh reminder that putting your body through such a challenge is not an endeavor that should not be taken lightly. I find this very sad and completely terrifying that a young, (he was only 40) perfectly healthy person could just drop dead from pushing their body too far. Since I ran in the marathon relay I actually saw Marc Witkes run by while I was waiting for my friend Jenne Breslin to hand me the baton. This was around mile 8 and he was looking great. At mile 22 he was still keeping up a 6:35 minute/mile pace even with a strong head wind. One of things I find so alarming about the death of Marc Witkes is that he was what I would consider an expert at long distance and extreme endurance races. He had run in several dozen marathons and was a triple Iron Man. Additionally, he was a running columnist for the Durango Herald. If anyone should know how to take care of their body during a race like the Tucson Marathon it should be this man. His death is shocking and tragic. 
In more cheerful news, because I could not run in the Tucson marathon this year due to a leg injury, as a consolation I ran in the marathon relay with three other women from Tucson. I had the second leg of the course, which was only 5.5 miles and stuck my non-injured teammates with the longer legs. With very little training (I hadn't even gone running in a week) I managed to average an 8:10 minute/mile pace and overall my team placed third out of all the women's relay teams. We would have placed second except two of my teammates got stuck in traffic and were five minutes late for the baton handoff. In spite of this mishap and the lack of training it was a good showing on our part.
posted by Sara @ 12:53 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
The Honolulu marathon was this past weekend and a guy had a heart attack during it as well! He came back the next day from his stay in the hospital, started running again where he had the attack, and crossed the finish line with finishing certificate in hand, thanks to the wonderful coordinators of the event who thought he deserved it.
And hello S & D! Just found your blog!
I am becoming more convinced that long distance running (which I would call any distance > 5 miles at a time with any regularity...others are critical of even that) is more harmful than beneficial. It's hard on your joints, and it creates a state of chronic inflammation.
This is especially critical if you think that inflammation is the underlying cause of most cardiovascular disease (which I do). In other words, it's more than enough to offset any benefit from training.
A few studies have even claimed that the life expectancy of long distance runners actually lower, though I take any claim that broad with a boulder of salt.
Still, the anecdotes keep piling up. Check out: http://www.arthurdevany.com/endurance_training_death_injury_and_risk/ and just scroll on through.
Marc loved what he did and I don't think he would have lived his life any other way. You could take the pessimistic view that his death was tragic or you could see it as I do, that Marc lived fulfilled by his passion and love for life and did so on his own terms. In fact, he lived more in 40 years than most people do in a lifetime.
Mule, I love what you said about Marc. I have been a long time friend of his (over 22 years). I am incredibly sad by his death, but thoughts like yours are what is helping me. He died doing what he loved (and the Sox won the World Series!). He wouldn't have had it any other way. He had been in a major accident about 20 years ago and was partially paralyzed. He had such determination and drive; more than anyone I know.
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