Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Will You Die Running a Marathon?


Did you hear about the three men who died running the Detroit Half Marathon this weekend? Did it give you pause about your own running and if you are putting yourself at risk by doing endurance/distance running? To the right is Jon Fenlon, age 26, who was one of the individuals who died.

I wrote an article for the Examiner about why people die in marathons and how often. The bottom line for me is that running is not an inherently risky activity and the benefits far outweigh the risks. The article was posted last night and has already had 1,000 page views which makes me the #1 Examiner in Denver and the #2 in the nation!! Yes, I'm bragging here but being a new writer it gives me such joy to know someone is reading something I've written. This is an important subject, so if you get a chance, please take a look here.

If you like what you read, please subscribe right next to my picture on the site.

20 comments:

  1. No pause. If I started worrying about how many people died doing the very activities I enjoy, I would have my own reality show about having to use a forklift to get me out of my bed.

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  2. Hey -- Awesome on the page views, you popular writer, you! I'm checking out the article now...I've been curious ever since I saw the headline on that story.

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  3. I have a coworker who ran it... and he saw two of the guys passed out on the side of the road. Scary. I will check out your article!

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  4. Hmmm, doesn't make me stop and re-examine why I run, only because like Jamoosh said, if I looked at all the things in my life that could cause harm, I would never leave the house! I think we have a higher chance of being killed in a car accident then by running a marathon.
    Great job on the article and all those hits! At least you're being productive with your non-running time! ;)

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  5. Great article, Beth. Congrats on the hits!

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  6. I hadn't heard about that! How sad.

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  7. Yes, one of them is from my running club in WV. We are saddened here.

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  8. Great article and congrats on the publicity!

    I subscribed.

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  9. off to check it out now as this subject matter obviously effects us all. thanks!

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  10. Great article!
    I also think that undetraining puts people at risk for marathon related deaths, and man are more likely to show up undertrained thinking they can pull of a marathon...Such a sad story!

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  11. I was super sad when i found out about the people running the Detroit marathon. I knew a bunch of people running it and it kinda freaked me out.

    I do agree that out of all the 'bad' things i do for myself, running isn't something I'm going to stress out about.

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  12. I hadn't heard that. Yikes. 3 in one race. Isn't that kind of...unusual?

    Ok, I suscribed. I better not start getting junk mail from them. I only get it for the articles ;)

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  13. Thank you for posting this, and great article! It was a very very sad day.

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  14. it's very sad for those athletes. I agree that the benefits outweigh the risks... congrats on your article!

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  15. My old boss, who ran 30+ marathons in his heydey, knew a runner who dropped dead from running. It was discovered posthumously that he had an undiagnosed heart condition and that his running had most likely actually prolonged his life by about 10 years.

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  16. It is sad to know that 3 people who apparently were attempting to live a more healthly lifestyle have passed away. I pray their families take comfort in the fact that they died doing something they loved.
    The only pause it gives me is to pay my respects to those 3 men and their families...then I start running again. (Congrats on the article!!)

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  17. I hadn't heard that, but I am not too worried about dying running a race. I'm too busy worrying about just getting to run a race!

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  18. Congratulations on the writing job!

    This always comes up everytime there is an unfortunate death at a running race. Funny how the thousands of people drop dead on the couch watching football every weekend but nobody is calling for people to stop watching the NFL.

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