Monday, March 20, 2006

This just illustrates what I've been saying all along: exercise is very, very bad for you.

LATimes:

The weather was perfect, the field enthusiastic, the times respectable, but Los Angeles' annual street party masquerading as street race was marred Sunday by the deaths of two runners and the collapse of an elderly man who was hospitalized in critical condition.

Two retired law enforcement officers died after collapsing on the route. Det. Raul Reyna, 53, suffered a heart attack at mile 24 near Olympic Boulevard and Westmoreland Avenue, two miles short of the finish line. He died at Good Samaritan Hospital. The 28-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran had worked on the use of force investigation team at Parker Center, officials said.

Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy James Leone, 60, collapsed at mile 3, near Exposition Boulevard and Figueroa Street. "He just dropped … keeled over and hit his face on the pavement," said David Lawson, who interrupted his own run to administer CPR to the fallen runner."

His face was covered with blood and his eyes were open, but we never really got a pulse," said Lawson, a private pilot who volunteers part time on a ski patrol team. He and another runner, a physician, spent several minutes trying to revive Leone before paramedics arrived, said Lawson, who then resumed his run. Leone was pronounced dead upon arrival at California Hospital Medical Center.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe trying to run 26 miles when you are 53 or 60 years is not the best idea in the world. No matter what kind of shape you are in. That's just taking a chance at that age.

GETkristiLOVE said...

Malarky! I hiked both Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro with four guys that were 60+. If you have clogged arteries, you're gonna die soon, no matter the age.

Anonymous said...

Dude, running 26 miles at ANY age is just plain wrong.

Just. Plain. Wrong.

vikkitikkitavi said...

Last year, a friend of mine ran for the first time, and I wanted to be really supportive, but all I could think was WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT??

GETkristiLOVE said...

Actually, it's on my to-do list, that and a tri-athalon.

Melissa said...

Um...I'm currently training for a marathon. Stop scaring the shit out of me.

vikkitikkitavi said...

Okay, I know, some people have that "I want to experience what pain REALLY is" gene, and some people don't.