<p>Ryan Shay, 28, died at about mile 5 of the Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC today, of an apparent heart attack Ryan was a Notre Damne grad and a prominent US runner. He recently married elite runner Alicia Craig (Stanford).
This is so horrible. </p>
<p>Congrats to top finishers Hall, See and Sell. Go US!!</p>
<p>Unbelievable! I was watching the last 1/2 hour of coverage and no mention was made of Shay’s collapse. Thanks for the update. Amazing last 3 K by Hall. He looked like he’d just finished a 10K fun run!</p>
<p>We almost went up to watch but had to catch up on yard work. I wonder if they will find an undiagnosed heart abnormality…I can’t believe it was a clogged artery. Very, very sad.</p>
<p>That is truly tragic. I don’t understand why they can’t just make the NY marathon the qualifier instead of running this race one day before?? (Not that it would have made any difference to Mr Shay)</p>
<p>Sorry- meant Ritz and not See.</p>
<p>so sad…at his age he’s in the ballpark for an undiagnosed congenital aneurysm…that burst.</p>
<p>Oh I heard about this too. How horribly sad. My running days are far behind me but I still love to keep up with those current marathoners. What a blow for running. Wonderful young man.</p>
<p>Did they say what caused it? Am guessing perhaps an undiagnosed heart problem? Very sad and shocking.</p>
<p>Not that it’s the case here, but there have been a couple articles published lately about how exercising in polluted urban areas can affect the heart.
The link is:
[Microscopic</a> Pollution May Trigger Heart Attacks And Strokes By Spurring Blood Clots](<a href=“http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070921130738.htm]Microscopic”>Microscopic Pollution May Trigger Heart Attacks And Strokes By Spurring Blood Clots | ScienceDaily)</p>
<p>Whatever it was, it took him out fast. According to witnesses over on the track and field board, he looked like he was going to sit down but then instead fell face down. When someone falls face first on the pavement it usually means he lost consciousness even before he fell. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.</p>
<p>Ryan Shay’s widow, Alicia, and Sara Hall, the wife of the race winner, were teammates at Stanford and were still close friends. The four of them went for a run together in Central Park the day before the race.</p>
<p>This is so sad. So tragic. I witnessed something similar with a 34 yr. old runner (though not with an olympian) way too up close and personal for my comfort. I will spare you the details (pm me if you are really curious), but suffice it to say, coureur is right. When a runner loses consciousness, he/she no longer has the reflexive response to put out their hands to break their fall. My thoughts are with his friends, family and the olympic community.</p>
<p>I was in the city this week and left this morning. Saw literally thousands of runners around the city for the past two days and today they were bundled up because it was windy and much colder than earlier in the week. </p>
<p>I heard on the news tonight that Shay apparently was diagnosed with an abnormally large heart as far back as age 14.</p>
<p>The article in our paper said he had been examined by a doctor recently along with other athletes and cleared to run.</p>
<p>AP is reporting that he had an enlarged heart, first diagnosed at 14, and more recently found to be even larger. There was a comment in the paper about how he was told he might one-day need a pacemaker. While large hearts are common in athletes, this comment about a pacer tends to imply he might have had an element of cardiomyopathy. </p>
<p>It is one thing to “clear” an athlete for a race. It is another to clear, but for the athlete to know there is an issue that could currently or one day pose a risk. Many athletes at this level chose to take that risk and run.</p>
<p>^In our family, H carries something called IHS which means a thickening right at the valve of the heart; doctor’s nickname it “Fat Heart” but it’s rather specific.</p>
<p>An older brother noticed he was getting winded and it was diagnosed; then all 5 brothers had it checked; some had it, some didn’t. With that on the medical history, S’s school wouldn’t clear him to enter any competitive sports until he’d been seen by a pediatric cardiologist, with EKG’s and all, since of our 3 kids, only the youngest had a glimmer showing up on his baseline EKG. </p>
<p>We were told, “This is the kind of thing you see when an athlete in top form suddenly collapses mid-game, with no prior problems evident.”</p>
<p>We had a dilemma in 9th grade, because he wanted to try out for soccer (new school, new community). The problem solved itself, however, because in tryouts he saw the other kids were prepped to pratice so much harder than he, with his AYSO fun times, that he couldn’t even keep up with the running. He cut himself from the team before the coach could. </p>
<p>He made friends through theater and A’s in gym just by showing up on time with his gym clothes on. Interestingly, at such a competitive school (with state winning soccer team) their PE grading policy was based upon participation and very simple indicators of effort, rather than achievement.</p>
<p>A researcher in Toronto, where my BIL lives, is currently looking for those with this diagnosis in order to identify a chromosome that would rule out the genetic inheritence, so kids wouldn’t all have to take those EKG tests, as all my 3 now have.</p>
<p>We only know this about our family because of the hyper-awareness of the one BIL. He got winded and fainted carrying the Torah around, LOL, part of his job, which led to the diagnosis in his 40’s. Otherwise, we as parents wouldn’t even know ANY of this. </p>
<p>It is also easy to miss when the heart thickening is at the valve. My BIL happened to cough during the procedure and THEN it showed up. At that point it went into a medical journal, to advise other doctors to ask the patient to cough once during the test. BIL brags he has a cough named after him (it is).</p>
<p>These things can really get by even the most diligent doctors and families.</p>