Three die in Free Press marathon

http://www.freep.com/article/20091018/SPORTS23/91018016/1318/3-runners-die-in-Detroit-marathon

Three males, one fell and hit his head, the other two had heart attacks.

 

That's terrible.

Is nothing safe in Detroit?

 

Crazy, I was reading that only three people have died in the Chicago Marathon since 1998, then Detroit gets three deaths in one day.

One would be a big deal.

 

What was the weather like there?

 

Chilly.

Many runners were wearing hats, gloves and pants.

 

I asked because if I remember correctly in that Chicago Marathon a few years ago, heat was a factor in one of the deaths.

 

One of the deaths was because the runner hit his head. The other two were heart attacks.

Not sure on the ages of the participants.

 

They haven't said anything about the runners' backgrounds or medical history yet and there have been experienced, high-level runners who have died because of genetic conditions.
That said, there are some old-school runners who think that the sudden growth in the sport, especially with the back-of-the-pack runners, is not a good thing.
There was a time when the marathon was only for hardcore, experienced runners. Nobody even thought about running one until they've been running seriously for a few years and had several shorter races under their belts.
Within the last decade, a lot of people who have never even run a mile without stopping have gone through training programs that claim to allow them to complete a marathon with just a few months' training. In other words, a lot of people who have no business running marathons are running marathons.
Granted there have only been a few deaths in marathons, but I wonder if there might be more in the future because so many people are doing marathons as beginning runners.

 

I don't want to start a pissing match here, but if they've been "training," especially with a coach/following a plan, do they really have "no business" running a marathon?

That's not to say there aren't some folks who go about it completely the wrong way (i.e. not training at all, not following a full plan, not listening to their coach, etc.), but not everyone who has just decided to do a training plan and complete a marathon has no business doing so.

 

From CNN's blog:

 

Low 40s is a little cooler than experienced runners would like, but still close to ideal for marathon runners. The weather probably won't have been a factor.

And yes, with proper training - at least six months, according to veteran marathoners I've written about - someone can go from jogging around the block to running a marathon in that amount of time.

Sad day in Detroit, regardless. And now the organizers will have to deal with the uninformed who'll say the race shouldn't be run again.