A friend of mine just ran a marathon in San Francisco over the weekend- She's 51 and has been running for 25-30 years although this was her first marathon. She trained for this for months...

They did track 3-4 times a week and also did a long run every week, upping their distance each week. They don't run the full 26 miles till the actual marathon though, I think the longest run they did prior was 20 miles. She said that it was HARD, that there are times when the pain is overwhelming, even more then that is the mental strength it takes to keep going when the body wants to rest. A good thing about training in a group for this is that they were able to play word games to keep their minds off their aching bodies...

I tried some of the electrolyte chews she uses, kinda like gummi bears, pretty darn tasty, actually. They're very high calorie because of course the body needs a lot of energy to do a run like this. They can't carry water because of the weight so they rely on the "stations" or whatever they're called to get water, then they just throw the bottles down.

Not something that I'd want to do- I think it's crazy(ssshhhh, don't tell her I said that).

Who knows why those men died? Did not train properly, did not supply themselves with proper nutrition prior to or during the run, preexisting conditions.

One thing's for sure these days- the fact that someone is young does not automatically mean that they have better health then an older person, sad to say. When us 50-somethings were growing up, we did NOT get a ton of vaccinations and there was NOT a ton of junk food around. Processed foods were a rarity, soda pop was an occasional treat. There were only three channels on our television, there were no videogames, computers or Cell Phone s so we got the exercise and fresh air that we needed...

Young people now have far greater challenges then we older folks did.

The media reports the deaths, what happened, but does not do any investigative reporting into what really happened inside the bodies of the runners when they died.

We can only assume some things around 11 - 12 miles into the race like dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, or some pre-existing condition.

Same thing with media reporting H1N1 or flu deaths, they leave out any pre-existing condition details or underlying problems.

Are we supposed to just accept "sad" stories without understanding the situation entirely. I could even pose the argument that given the ratio of deaths by flu versus marathons, we can conclude that if the US has 305 million people and all were running a marathon, that 2.44 million would die according to the article's statistic reference.

Running long distances like that is bodily abuse, the same as smoking, etc. It's very hard on the knee joints, and no animal is designed to run long distances over excessive periods of time. Only short bursts. Think *

When's the last time you met a person over 80 who ran regularly, long distances when they were young ? You won't and the reason is, that running is hard on the body, wears it out. These people are freaks, who run excessively and compulsively. When I run, I go an eight mile or quarter mile, just enough to get the oxygen flowing, then stop, like the other animals only doing it in bursts. I could push myself and burn time and energy and age my body by abusing it, but I'm not that type. When I want to go far distances, I take the bus.

I prefer swimming as exercise, plus you can take your clothes off. Naked runners get ticketed. Only a true pansy would ever write a ticket to a skinny dipper.

It's fairly easy to know what zonked these three and its not dehydration.