Monday, November 5, 2007

Ryan Shay, Olympic marathon hopeful, dies in New York

In case you missed the news from Saturday, Ryan Shay died while participating in the US Olympic Marathon Trials race. Shay collapsed after five miles and died before arriving at the hospital. The cause of death is not fully known, but he was known to have an enlarged heart and that likely played a role.

Running a marathon (which he has done before, and quite more than we'll be endeavoring to do), while possible for anyone (or near anyone I believe) should not be regarded as a small task. If proper training is pursued then the race can go well, but everyone who takes on the task of training or racing in a marathon should be sure that they are, and feel, physically capable of the pursuit. I don't plan on paying for my steak dinner post-race in January of 2009, but I can certainly think of worse situations. Read this great New York Times story on Ryan and the race, train well, and be well.

And I'll see you in Houston, if not before then.