Joe’s Blog

I had actually met the runner on a couple of occasions and seen him before the race with a friend of mine. I’d like to express my sympathy for his wife and young child who have lost a loving father.

Rough Translation by me of
http://www.morgenpost.de/content/2007/04/02/berlin/892287.html

For the first time in the history of the Berlin half-marathon, one of the runners died. A 39 year old runner from Charlottenburg collapsed at approx. 12.30 on Leipziger St., the cause of which is still to be clarified. A doctor who was also running at the time began resuscitation immediately. “The runner was brought by a rescue vehicle to the Charité [Berlin hospital] immediately” said Dr. Lars Brechtel, Medical Director of SCC Running. Even though the rescuers acted quickly, it was too late.

The man presumably suffered a sudden (cardiac) death. Physical strain must not necessarily be the cause for such a sudden cardiac arrest, according to Brechtel - almost no healthy person can run themselves to death. A hereditary or acquired heart disease could have possibly lead to the runner’s death. “At this time we can only speculate,” according to the doctor. For an exact explanation of the cause of death a pathological examination would be necessary.

During the Berlin Marathon in 2002, 2 out of almost 40,000 runners died on the 42 kilometer course - a 58 year old man from Denmark and a 38 year old from Panama.

With 80 cases of normal assistance by the paramedics on the course, 96 case at the finish and twelve transports to the hospital, the amount of medical assistance for the half-marathon was the same as the runs in 2005 and 2006, according to the organiser, SCC Running. Circulation problems were the most common cause.

The police hat 350 officers in place and apart from the dramatic death, there were no incidents. 171 cars had to be towed away from the course.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 12:10 am and is filed under Germany, Personal/Social, Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.