Marathons Turn Somber With Runner’s Death

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Elite distance runner Ryan Shay, who collapsed and died yesterday during the American men’s marathon Olympic trials, had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart but cleared by doctors, his father said.

“The thing that made him such a great runner may have killed him,” Joe Shay said.

An enlarged heart like Ryan’s translated into extra endurance — crucial for a distance runner.

Ryan and other top athletes underwent medical testing in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he trained, last spring, Joe Shay said, and he was cleared for running.

“He said the doctors told him that because your heart rate is so low, when you’re older you may need a pacemaker to make adjustments on that,” Joe Shay said, adding his son first was diagnosed with a larger than normal heart at age 14.

Scientists long have noticed the phenomenon of the “athlete’s heart.” Athletes who train hard in aerobic sports, such as cycling, running or swimming, tend to have a bigger heart that pumps more blood throughout the body.

The 28-year-old Ryan Shay collapsed about 51⁄2 miles into the race.

“I got a call that Ryan had fallen down … then I got another call that his heart had stopped,” Joe Shay said.

The medical examiner’s office said an autopsy will be performed today.

What was supposed to be a glorious weekend for the sport became instead a wake. That somber mood is sure to carry over to today’s New York City Marathon, in which 38,000 runners will compete.

“It’s a big loss for the running community,” a 2004 Olympic women’s marathon bronze medalist who used to train with Shay in California, Deena Kastor, said. “It’s a day we should be celebrating. It has cast a pall.”

Shay and Ryan Hall and their wives had hoped to celebrate together after the trials. Now Mr. Hall is dedicating his race at the Olympics to Shay.

Minutes after Mr. Hall crossed the finish line first in record time, his arms raised in triumph, he heard the unthinkable news.

Shay was one of Mr. Hall’s former training partners, and Shay’s wife was Mr. Hall’s teammate at Stanford.

“That just cut me straight to the heart,” Mr. Hall said. “It makes you forget what you just did.”

Organizers had decided to pair the trials with the storied annual marathon, hoping the timing would attract large crowds. The plan worked, as fans fought gusty wind to line the compact 26.2-mile course, which began in Rockefeller Center and traipsed through Times Square before heading to Central Park for five loops.

They witnessed a potentially historic day for American marathon running. Mr. Hall, a 25-year-old who had never raced the distance before April, established himself as a contender in Beijing, with a trials record time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 2 seconds. Joining him in China will be Dathan Ritzenhein (2:11:07) and Brian Sell (2:11:40).

The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, Meb Keflezighi, was hobbled by cramps in both calves and fell back to eighth.

Shay hit the ground near the Central Park boathouse, a popular Manhattan tourist spot.

“He crossed right in front of me and stepped off the course,” runner Marc Jeuland of Chapel Hill, N.C., said. “He nearly tripped me.”

A statement from USA Track & Field said Shay immediately received CPR. He was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 8:46 a.m., according to New York City police.

A recreational runner died during last month’s Chicago Marathon, the warmest in that event’s history. But the death of an elite athlete during a major competition is a rare and startling occurrence.

On Friday, Mr. Hall and his wife, Sara, and Shay and his wife, Alicia, went for a run in Central Park. Shay seemed fine, Sara Hall said.

The Halls and Alicia were college teammates. Sara Hall considers Alicia one of her closest friends; she was a bridesmaid at the Shays’ wedding in July.

It was in New York two years ago while watching the NYC marathon that Shay met his future wife. Alicia, who’s hoping to make it to Beijing in the women’s 10,000, was a two-time NCAA champion and the collegiate 10,000-meter record-holder while running as Alicia Craig at Stanford.

At the 2004 Olympic men’s marathon trials, Shay was a favorite going in but was hampered by a hamstring strain and finished 23rd.

Shay was born May 4, 1979, in Ann Arbor, Mich., the fifth of eight children in a running family. His parents are the cross country and track coaches at Michigan’s Central Lake High School.

“He achieved through hard work and effort goals and dreams that most people will never realize,” Joe Shay said. “He was a champion, a winner and a good person. … He used to say, ‘Dad, there’s a lot of guys out there with a lot more talent than me, but they will never outwork me.'”


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