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x-country tragedy

Question:

Just a news item here, no agenda, and sorry to be the bearer of unhappy news…but since this is a running group, there’s an AP story on the wire at the moment about a 16-year-old girl in Georgia who died last night after completing a 5-K x-country race. I haven’t seen anything yet about whether she had a medical condition or had received the proper physical before the start of the season/race. chris

Response:

Just a news item here, no agenda, and sorry to be the bearer of unhappy news…but since this is a running group, there’s an AP story on the wire at the moment about a 16-year-old girl in Georgia who died last night after completing a 5-K x-country race. I haven’t seen anything yet about whether she had a medical condition or had received the proper physical before the start of the season/race. chris

Chris, This pains me if it was heat stroke.   I can empathize with the sorrow of the parents for their beloved daughter who was on the edge of the fullness of life. Almost very year over the past 20+ years I’ve come across similar stories.   It hit close to home with my oldest daughter who was travelling  in French Polenesia after a senior semester research in Moorea.  She had laid out on a beach on a Saturday and then rode a bike 30 some miles around the island on Sunday forgetting that the stores were closed, so there was no water.  She got back to her hotel with an excrutiating headache and the feeling of burning up and feeling faint.  One of her roommates took her temperature at 104.5 and went to get help.  Erin struggled to the shower, thinking to herself that her parents would be pissed is she died of heatstroke, and turned on the shower and sat under the water for an hour.  She was able to hydrate and get her temperature down over the next 6 hours. This happened in December of 1999 and I just found out about it his spring around the dinner table when she was relaying about some of her trip. If it wasn’t related to a hidden heart problem or some other abnormality but was heat related, this post to Nina talked about the issue of heat stroke in young kids. In health and on the run, Ozzie Gontang Maintainer – rec.running FAQ Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1975 Mindful Running:   http://www.mindfulness.com/mr.asp http://www.faqs.org/faqs/running-faq/

—-Snipped for brevity—– I’d be interested what you think might have happened out there. These are the ideas I’ve come up with: a) bonking? (I did take in 1.5 gels but usually take ~3 over that distance – for some reason my stomach wasn’t very tolerant of the stuff today.) b) dehydration? (During the run itself, I drank about two or three cups of water.) c) heat related lightheadedness? (I was wearing a visor and wet my hair.) d) sheer exhaustion? or a combination thereof?

Hi Nina,   I followed your initial post and the 11 of dialogue of what happened. Some added thoughts: In the fall in the east when kids are getting ready for cross country, all it takes to render heat stroke to one of these novice runners in a 5K cross country is a hot day and high humidity.  Mix in the spirit of a 14 or 15 year old who  has something to prove to their coach or parents or teammates or themselves. With an all out effort by the second mile the runner has shot up their core temperature to 104 degrees or more since there is no evaporation because of the high humidity.  They collapse.  In heat stroke the sweat reflex stops and the temperature is driven higher with possible severe damage to kidneys, liver, heart, and brain. I would imagine that you experienced something similar but it was not severe enough or you are in better condition or…  The fact that you were hot after your first shower would lead me to believe that you were playing on the edge of heat stroke. This post is from last year, you may remember the situation:

At the medical briefing for the Medical Team at the Rock and Roll Marathon, the issue of Hyponatremia was explained.<<<<<

<SNIP Cory Stringer of Minnesota (NFL football team) died this week of heat exhaustion. He was 27. He started to have symptoms during their practice which took place during 90" weather. Heat exhaustion is the official reason given for his death. It is advised that you make yourself aware of the symptoms and when you see them in yourself, to stop. The reason is, heat exhaustion can spiral out of control and you cannot stop it just by the "immediate act of stopping what you are doing" once it starts to spiral. Once it starts to spiral, you have to take immediate measures to stop it. For exmaple stopping running would not be enough. I am talking about actual heatstroke/exhaution here. Not just being hot or tired or sweaty. Familiarize yourself with the symptoms and what to do if you recognize them. Also, pets can sucumb to heat exhaustion the same way people can. If you have a little buddy that loves to go wild outside, please don’t allow it in the heat. Even if they were to survive, things like neurological damage and other problems may be the permanent after effects. Your pet’s health comes before his or her happiness. So don’t feel guilty about saying "no" when they want to go out or run around once outside in the hot weather. Play with them inside instead. Some dogs have lost their lives from a mere extended walk on a leash in the hot weather. Another heat stroke situation for a fellow running a short downhill portion of a relay at the Pittsburgh Marathon where the temperature was in the mid 80’s.  This link comes from Rob Carr back in 2000: http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20001124marathonmain2.asp [[ This message was both posted and mailed: see    the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for details. ]] Hi Ozzie, Thanks for the input.

I am continually thankful for the collective wisdom of the contributors of rec.running. Whoa. I’ll need to read up on the symptoms of heat stroke some more. I did actually look it up in a hiking guide I have here, but that description didn’t sound right (hardly any sweating??).

Heat Stroke Hot summer months require the awareness that heat can kill. Watch for the following… Symptoms                     Weakness, dizziness                     Rapid pulse                     Reddish tinge to skin                     Nausea and/or vomiting                     Unconsciousness Prevention                     Spend as much time indoors as possible on any hot and humid days                     Drink plenty of fluids                     Wear lightweight clothing                     Protect yourself from the sun                     Take frequent drink breaks during outdoor activities                     Schedule vigorous activities and sports for cooler times of the day How heat stroke works: When our bodies create extreme internal heat from either external heat, vigorous activity, or a combination of both, we control our internal body heat by sweating. Situations like extreme external heat, especially  when combined with high humidity, can interfere with this cooling system and our internal body heat begins to rise.  Body temperatures can rise to 106

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