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Lead Stories: Sunday, October 12, 2008

Athlete Ngetich Perishes in Ongoing Kenyan Violence

Posted January 21st, 2008 at 1:22 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The ongoing violence in Kenya has claimed the life of marathoner Wesley Ngetich, according to his manager Hussein Makke. The 34 year-old athlete was shot in the chest with an arrow today during fighting in his hometown of Trans Mara, not far from Masai Mara.

“They spoke to his sister-in-law who said they took him to the hospital and he passed away,” Makke explained in an e-mail message to Race Results Weekly. “I don’t have any further information at the moment.”

Makke got the news of Ngetich’s death from his on-site manager in Kenya, Francis Kamau.
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Olympic Gold Medalist
Robert Taylor Dies

Posted November 15th, 2007 at 8:30 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

According to the Associated Press, two-time Olympic medalist Robert Taylor died Tuesday at a hospital in Missouri City, Texas, after becoming ill Monday at the school where he was a teacher. He was 59.

One of the finest sprinters of his era, Taylor won a gold medal in the 4×100m relay and a silver medal in the 100 meters at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

“Robert had one of the greatest personalities,” friend Terry Henson of Tyler, Texas, told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “His ability as an athlete was unmatched. He never really got his just due on how great an athlete he really was.”

Porter Robinson, who helped coach Taylor at Texas Southern, told The Associated Press that Taylor had “great, great talent.”
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Remembering Ryan Shay

Posted November 11th, 2007 at 9:45 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

Today in East Jordan, Mich., a funeral was held for Ryan Shay, the 2003 USA marathon champion who collapsed and died at the USA Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon on Nov. 3, in New York City. He was 28 years-old and had been married only for four months to the former Alicia Craig, the Stanford University star who won the NCAA 10,000m title in 2003 and 2004.

The exact cause of Ryan’s death is still unknown, but it is clear that his heart abruptly stopped at about the 9 km mark of the Trials and, despite heroic and immediate medical intervention, he died before reaching Lennox Hill Hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

I knew Ryan both through my role as a journalist and a race organizer. It would be a stretch to say were close, but we were certainly friendly and shared a passion for the sport. I recruited Ryan to run the 2004 ING New York City Marathon where he set his personal best time of 2:14:08, cracking the top-10 in ninth place. It didn’t surprise me that Ryan would run his best marathon in New York, despite the difficulty of the course. He was so strong and so tough, the kind of runner who was well suited to the hills of the Five Borough Classic. Ryan really had heart.
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English marathoner Jane Tomlinson dies after 7-year battle with cancer

Posted September 4th, 2007 at 3:20 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Jane Tomlinson, who defied terminal cancer for seven years by running marathons, entering triathlons and cycling vast distances while raising large sums for charity, has died, her family said Tuesday. Tomlinson, 43, died Monday night at St. Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds, her home town in central England.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990. Ten years later, she was told the disease had spread and was incurable, and that she would die within six months. She continued to work as a nurse and, despite the effects of chemotherapy and other treatment, she pursued a grueling exercise program.

She ran three times in the London marathon and was said to be the first terminal cancer patient to finish the race. She ran once in the New York Marathon and competed in an Ironman triathlon in Florida completing a 180-kilometer (112-mile) bike ride, a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) swim and a full marathon within 17 hours.
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Two deaths mar last Sunday’s Comrades Marathon

Posted June 19th, 2007 at 12:42 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Two runners who participated in the 82nd Comrades Marathon died on Sunday, one during the race and one afterwards. The ultramarathon, which had more than 12,000 entrants, was run over 89.3 km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

Michael Gordon (34) died shortly after being helped across the finish line by fellow runners. He apparently suffered a heart attack moments before crossing the line and although he was treated within seconds by the emergency medical team, he was declared dead when he arrived in the fully equipped field hospital in Kingsmead Stadium. It was Gordon’s first Comrades.

Willem Malapi (48) finished soon after Gordon and was also helped across the line by other runners. He was taken to the field hospital and then transferred in a critical condition to Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital where he died at approximately 20:00 after his heart had stopped for a second time. Malapi was a seasoned runner with 14 Comrades under his belt. The cause of his death was announced as cardiac arrest after he had suffered an electrolyte imbalance.
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