Sunday brought beautiful weather for the Inaugural Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Dallas, Texas. While I was not running this one, I had many friends who were and was excited to see that they had such a perfect day for running. I was shocked and saddened to hear of the death of runner, Mark Austry, after he crossed the finish line. From all reports, Mark was a strong athlete and was in great condition. His brother, who ran with him, said that Mark appeared to be fine and didn't seem to be winded. This is the second death in Dallas within the last 15 months, the 1st one being Erin Lahr who collapsed at near the 23 mile mark of the White Rock Marathon in 2008. It was later found that she had a cardiac arrhythmia.
Sudden deaths such as these always bring questions and concerns from friends and family members as Erik and I participate in so many races--particularly half marathons. I have some interesting statistics to share, courtesy of Dr. Kenneth Cooper of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. "Marathon running is remarkably safe considering the number of people running around the world and rare instances of sudden death." according to Dr. Cooper. Participation in road racing has increased from 100,000 runners in 1968 to an estimated 30 million today. However, there has not been a corresponding rise in the number of deaths, says Dr. Cooper. "If running were dangerous, there would have been an exponential increase in the number of deaths, but there wasn't." The American College of Cardiology's Scientific Session presented a study in April 2009 showing the risk of sudden death during a marathon to be 0.8 per 100,000 runners (approx 4 marathon deaths per year in the U.S.) compared to 1.5 deaths per 100,000 for triathlon. The study showed the risk of dying in a car accident to be 1 in 6,700.
Dr. Cooper recommends that patients undergo stress EKGs to identify abnormalities and also cooling down properly--giving the heart a chance to slow down. I am planning on renewing my CPR certification in case I need to help a fellow runner. The Dallas Running Club offers CPR for runners periodically throughout the year.
On a related note, the Dallas Running Club will host a viewing of "Spirit of the Marathon" on April 15 at Studio Movie Grill on Central Expressway. The movie screening will benefit a memorial fund set up for Mark Austry's daughters. For more information visit www.dallasrunningclub.com.
Life is short and precious! Be careful out there!
thank you so much for posting this! While doing the White Rock 1/2 Relay, my running buddy and I saw a woman collapse and lose control of her bladder just before reaching the finish line. It was a really awful thing to see...and then to hear about Mark! Afwul. Good to know there are angel runners with CPR helping their fellow atheletes!
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