Melbourne Marathon
After 4 years in the marathon abyss I got back into last weekend in the Melbourne Marathon. Unfortunately my race didn’t quite go as planned.
I was travelling well at the halfway, through in 1hr 52mins (on track for around 3hrs 50mins). At the turn around point we turned back into a stiff head wind (50kph) and at the 25km I started coughing a little. I was able to get rid of it, but it returned again around the 28km mark. It took me a little longer to get rid of it the 2nd time but I did and kept running. Then at the 30km I starting coughing and all of a sudden I couldn’t breath, started gasping for air.... I stumbled over to a nearby volunteer and seeing my state he called ‘000’ immediately (emergency). I sat down and tried to relax and get some air in. After a couple of minutes I was able to get some normality back into my breathing but was still struggling a bit. An Ambulance arrived soon after and took me to a hospital closer to the city. They gave me oxygen on route which helped a lot and after 2hrs sitting on a stretcher at the hospital a doctor gave the okay to release me.
I decided then the best thing to do was finish the race - slowly. So I got back onto StKilda road at about the 36km marker (the ambo ride cut 6km’s off the course) and ran out the rest of the race. When I felt my breathing get restricted I eased off, but I was able to run most of the final stint. It was a bitter sweet entrance into the MCG but I was pleased not to be dead and happy to at least finish the race…… 5hrs 32mins.
Medical Diagnosis - Something probably scratched my air-way (small leaf, pollen or bug) which restricted my breathing to the point where I couldn’t get enough oxygen to meet my needs. It makes some sense because it was hot and windy and leaves were flying about over most of the course. I guess I inhaled something along the way?? Very trivial incident though..
I was travelling well at the halfway, through in 1hr 52mins (on track for around 3hrs 50mins). At the turn around point we turned back into a stiff head wind (50kph) and at the 25km I started coughing a little. I was able to get rid of it, but it returned again around the 28km mark. It took me a little longer to get rid of it the 2nd time but I did and kept running. Then at the 30km I starting coughing and all of a sudden I couldn’t breath, started gasping for air.... I stumbled over to a nearby volunteer and seeing my state he called ‘000’ immediately (emergency). I sat down and tried to relax and get some air in. After a couple of minutes I was able to get some normality back into my breathing but was still struggling a bit. An Ambulance arrived soon after and took me to a hospital closer to the city. They gave me oxygen on route which helped a lot and after 2hrs sitting on a stretcher at the hospital a doctor gave the okay to release me.
I decided then the best thing to do was finish the race - slowly. So I got back onto StKilda road at about the 36km marker (the ambo ride cut 6km’s off the course) and ran out the rest of the race. When I felt my breathing get restricted I eased off, but I was able to run most of the final stint. It was a bitter sweet entrance into the MCG but I was pleased not to be dead and happy to at least finish the race…… 5hrs 32mins.
Medical Diagnosis - Something probably scratched my air-way (small leaf, pollen or bug) which restricted my breathing to the point where I couldn’t get enough oxygen to meet my needs. It makes some sense because it was hot and windy and leaves were flying about over most of the course. I guess I inhaled something along the way?? Very trivial incident though..
posted by Tim B. at 10:11 pm
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