Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Rock n Rollover?

Did you hear about the man who died at the Dodge Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon at Virginia Beach?

Sure, you might have just generally heard about the Rock 'N' Roll annual half marathon at the beach this past holiday weekend. If you couldn't tell by my Facebook, I ran it with friends from school. But for the SECOND year in a row, the race has claimed a life.

According to NBC12, the 27-year-old male Sean McCarthy finished the race (13.1 miles), and then headed over to the medical tent. He was taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His cause of death has not yet been determined. He was on one of the marathon training teams, and was placed in the "intermediate cobalt group." Translation: before he even started that training program, he could run 20-25 miles a week.

Last year, 23-year-old Erik Wellumson was running the same race and collapsed on the boardwalk near 8th street. He too, was in good shape and was pronounced dead at the hospital.  Medical examiners reported he died from an acute cardiac collapse.

A 50-year-old runner also died during the 2005 Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon, making the count 3 runners in the past 5 years.

For all of you revamping your New Year's Resolution lists, again, and making it a goal to achieve something such as a half marathon, don't forget about these runners! It scared me beyond belief to find out the same race that I participated in on Sunday was the cause of death for another person. If you're feeling overworked doing anything with your body, think of my blog, and stop. Now.

When running this past weekend, the last 3 miles seemed to take the entire 2 hours. All I knew for sure is that no part of me ever desires to run a full marathon. I'm guessing that about 95% of people reading this agree. The rest of you, well, you're overachievers.


Read more:
NBC12 Article
LINK757 Article



Now ya heard. Spread the word.

2 comments:

  1. I'm thinking about running the half marathon next year, but this statistic is so scary! Even though it's only 3 in 5 years, it's still 3 too many. When I was in high school, my senior class exec. council would help pass out water to the runners. A group of my peers witnessed this 50-year-old man in 2005 walk up to them and say, "help me" while shaking. Some people just push themselves too far I guess...

    On a brighter note, I'm still so proud of you for finishing 13.1 miles! How incredible.

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  2. I don't want to run a full marathon either! I thought I was going to pass out during the last mile. I wonder what the statistics are for people dieing after/during full marathons. It's probably much higher.

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