RUNNING IN A MARATHON? I JUST DON’T GET IT. Part 2

Two years ago, I wrote about how I did not understand why people ran in marathons.   I still feel the same way and because the Chicago Marathon was last weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to reflect and add new insights.

In the previous blog I wrote:

 (1) “Chicago held its annual marathon this past weekend.  An event that caused miles of street closures, bus lane changes and inconvenienced more people than those who participated.“ 

 My sentiment still holds true.  There were 45,000 registered runners, and the course was lined with an estimated one million spectators. Could someone please explain to me what there is to see at the marathon besides a throng of people running by you panting feverishly?  At least at a parade, there are colorful floats!

  

(2) “The derivation of the word ‘marathon’ as a race comes from the legend of  Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is claimed that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming ‘We have won,’ before collapsing and dying.  It was not until May 1921 that the International Amateur Athletic Federation set the standard distance at 26 miles 385 yards.

I just don't understand why people want to participate in an event that originated because somebody died from the effort of doing the exact same thing!”

This statement was oddly prophetic.  Sadly, this year, a 35 year-old firefighter from Greensboro, N.C., collapsed 500 yards from the finish line and died an hour and 45 minutes later at  Mercy Hospital.  This man drove 729 miles to participate in an event that was just over 26 miles long.  His wife and brother accompanied him on his trip to Chicago, and now, they will have a casket to accompany them back to North Carolina.  How tragic. 

During the June Half Marathon in Chicago, Zachary Gregory, a 22 year-old Wrigleyville resident and licensed physical therapist, collapsed and later died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.  Both of those men were young and physically fit, but the human body cannot take the torture of a marathon without repercussions.

(3)   I researched the physical toll a marathon takes on the human body and wrote, “According to Men’s Health magazine, researchers have identified a number of physical effects of running a marathon, including changes in [the] immune system and kidney function.  Dr. Arthur Siege, M.D., director of internal medicine at Harvard's McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, says , ‘The brunt of the damage falls exactly where you'd expect: on your muscles. As the miles pass, skeletal muscles stiffen and leak injury-signaling enzymes into the blood.’

He continued, “Our [bodies don’t] know whether [we’ve] run a marathon... or been hit by a truck. This is why, as you go deeper into the race, your body reacts to injury by mounting an emergency-repair response. Your adrenal glands and brain produce the stress hormones cortisol and vasopressin; your damaged muscles churn out proteins called cytokines, which trigger your liver to start producing C-reactive protein.’

Why does anyone want to put their body through such stress?

(4)  In addition, “A 2006 Circulation study, led by Dr. Malissa Wood, M.D., studied ultrasounds and blood tests of 60  marathon finishers.  The researchers found that after the race, some runners' hearts experienced difficulty refilling chambers. The researchers also noticed abnormalities in how blood was pumped from the right side of the heart to the lungs.”

Well that certainly does not sound like fun!  Is it worth risking one’s life and health just to be able to say you finished the race?

 (5)  How about this?  “Blisters on the feet and toes become painful after the race is over. Some runners may experience toenails which turn black and subsequently detach from the toe. This is from the toenails being too long (or the shoes being too tight) and repeatedly impacting on the front of the shoe.”

 Open-toed Manolo Blahnik shoes don’t look very pretty when only four toenails are in evidence!

(6)  Final reminder on why not to run.  “James Fixx was the author of the 1977 best-selling book, The Complete Book of Running, that is credited with helping start America's fitness revolution; popularizing the sport of running and demonstrating the health benefits of regular jogging. He died at the age of 52 of a heart attack just after his regular daily run.

While I “just don’t get it,” Fixx got it and it killed him.