Marathon tales

Port Elizabeth, South Africa - A marathon runner from Despatch will have to learn to walk again after some of the "spectators" in Walmer township attacked her during the Algoa Bus Bay to Bay Challenge on Saturday, stabbing her three times in the back with a knife.

"My legs immediately went lame, said Theresa Matthysen, 42, from her hospital bed on Sunday.

"And when I fell down, they stole my shoes off my feet. They also took my wristwatch."

The men fled into the township after they had robbed her of her shoes and wristwatch.

- Die Burger

Did she have diamond shoes and a gold watch or what kind of lowlife would attack a runner during a race? Agga, look out when you are going to South Africa! 

Tale #2 comes from Fredrik's blog and is from New York Marathon this year:

In this year's marathon, a man was resuscitated on the 59th Street Bridge (he had no pulse and wasn’t breathing; a med team and ambulance were there in two minutes) and rushed to the hospital. He was having a heart attack. The man had angioplasty and will walk out of the hospital to someday run again! With thousands of medical volunteers and an ambulance system tuned to caring for our runners, response time, the greatest indicator for survival, was dramatic. Had he been sitting in his living room, he may not have made it. In other words: Assuming you have all the appropriate pre-race health screening, running a marathon is safer than sitting in your living room. If you do your part, the marathon course may just be the safest place to be race day.

Finally there is proof :) Running is safer than to sit in your sofa, at least if you're not running in South Africa.