A 23-year-old man from Boston collapsed at the 25 mile marker on Saturday at the Baltimore Marathon.
The man was taken immediately to the hospital and was reported to have a core body temperature of 107 degrees and was pronounced dead a few hours later.
An autopsy is scheduled for later on in the day today. The local medical examiner will then pronounce a cause of death after looking over the man’s body.
The organizer of the race issued the following statement in regards to the death:
“We are heartbroken about it and it puts a sad note on an otherwise great day for Baltimore,” said Lee Corrigan. “Our hearts go out to him and his family,” he added.
Okay, so first things first. I am not a runner. I never have been and I never will be. Not to say I don’t like running, or that I am not fast. I am a great sprinter thanks to the sports I played in high school; basketball, baseball, and football. But when it comes to distance running, you can count me out. Yes I know that in football and basketball you run a lot, but that is different than long distance running. In those two sports, your mind is focused on other things like the ball, the score, the man you are defending, etc. In running cross country or long distance, what is the point?
Why do you need to run 26.2 miles to show that you are the best? Look at Usain Bolt. The guy runs 100 and 200 meters faster than anyone in the world. Ever. And he gets his race over with in less than 20 seconds. He can then enjoy the rest of his day. Not to mention, he is well known around the world, just like Michael Johnson and Jackie Joyner Kersee were. Let’s face it, other than runners, nobody cares about long distance running. The past year I haven’t seen one thing on ESPN about a marathon. Not one. But Usain Bolt has been on plenty of times.
So what is the point of them? I am confused. Why would anyone want to run for three, four, five or even six hours straight? Don’t get me wrong, my hat is off to all of you that can do that, because it is an amazing accomplishment, but why? Why put yourself through all of that?
My only conclusion is that it is a mental game that you like to play with yourself? Why do I think that? Well, I have a photo that a friend emailed me a few years back and I think it shows my reasoning quite well, because you would have to be either mentally tough or just plain crazy to continue running when something like this happens….
My point exactly!
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