died at the finish line (Read 771 times)

I'd rather have a grabber at the finish of a race than while shoveling snow or sitting on the sofa doing nothing or grocery shopping or driving my car...people have heart attacks every day. The odds of having one as a regular runner are greatly lessened. Running likely didn't cause his heart malfunction. Perhaps years of abuse of his body in the form of food or cigarettes did...or a genetic defect. Perhaps running gave him years that he wouldn't have had were he not a runner.

I'd rather have a grabber at the finish of a race than while shoveling snow or sitting on the sofa doing nothing or grocery shopping or driving my car...people have heart attacks every day. The odds of having one as a regular runner are greatly lessened. Running likely didn't cause his heart malfunction. Perhaps years of abuse of his body in the form of food or cigarettes did...or a genetic defect. Perhaps running gave him years that he wouldn't have had were he not a runner.

Or, conversely, he may have been a weekend warrior type. You know. Doesnt train, just goes out and runs hard on race day. That will cause heart attacks too. You know what tends NOT to cause heart attacks. Run Lots. Mostly easy. Sometimes hard. The VP of my company was saved by that last method of running. He ran everyday at lunch, never too fast. But first he started noticing that easy was getting slower (well he was in his 60's, that's normal right?). Then he started feeling short of breath even when it was "easy". Then he started feeling pressure. Not pain, just pressure. Was enough to make him go...ummmmmmm Went to the doc they did some test and he had 90% blockage in one artery and serious blockage in a couple other places. He felt the warning signs BECAUSE he was a runner. They said if he had been sedentary and not stressing his heart regularly, he would have had a warning free major MI. Got a stent and a super low fat diet and in 6 weeks was running and feeling like he was 20 years younger.

I'd rather have a grabber at the finish of a race than while shoveling snow or sitting on the sofa doing nothing or grocery shopping or driving my car...people have heart attacks every day. The odds of having one as a regular runner are greatly lessened. Running likely didn't cause his heart malfunction. Perhaps years of abuse of his body in the form of food or cigarettes did...or a genetic defect. Perhaps running gave him years that he wouldn't have had were he not a runner.

Ditto to what Zoomy said.