Tragedy Strikes the Detroit Marathon

This is pretty tough news.

"In the span of just 16 minutes, three men collapsed and died while running the 32nd Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon -- the first deaths in the event since 1994.

The first to collapse was Daniel Langdon, 36, of Laingsburg, at 9:02 a.m., said Rich Harshbarger, vice president of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership, which handles business operations for the Free Press and Detroit News. Langdon was on Michigan Avenue between the 11- and 12-mile markers.

Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, Ohio, collapsed at 9:17 a.m. near where Langdon went down, Harshbarger said. And Jon Fenlon, 26, of Waterford collapsed at about 9:18 a.m., just after finishing the half-marathon in 1:53:37, he said.

Sunday's fatalities were the first in the race since 1994, when veteran runner Samuel Grafton, 42, of Troy, died of a heart attack at the 22-mile mark. Grafton's death was the only other recorded death in the race's history."

I also later found out, another marathoner had collapsed at the Baltimore, MD marathon and also passed away.

People often say that running a marathon is crazy, or stupid or something else derogatory. Whether it's because they truly believe those things or are simply shielding themselves from having to look such a challenge directly in the eyes is topic for another time. That aside, running a marathon is no cake-walk. People often go from a routine that consists of running 2-4 miles 3x/week to logging upwards of 40 miles/week. Not only are their muscles new to this level of assault, but their heart is as well. And often times, it seems as though it is the heart which suffers the most and ultimately leads to the people collapsing and dying.

Dr. Donald Redelmeier

Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier did a great study on the mortality risk of running marathons, which you can read HERE. To sum it up, he observed results for 3,292,268 runners on 750 separate races (upwards of 14 million hours of exercise). He reported 26 observed deaths due to sudden cardiac arrest, equivalent to a rate of 0.8 deaths per every 100,000 participants. The rate for the Detroit Marathon was roughly 1.7.

It's hard not to be saddened by the news. However, instead of feeling bad about it, I want to look at it from a different perspective. Think about this - these three men had trained their minds and bodies for months to participate in what might have been on the biggest challenges they would ever face in their lives. They sacrificed, they suffered, they endured. The Detroit Marathon was their celebration. It was their reward for all of that hard work. At the end of the day, while it ultimately ended in tragedy for these three, I'm honored to have been able to run along side of them.