It was cold out there, but I got to see much of it. I’ll probably post more photos later.
When I first got out there, I stood right between mile 5 and 6, across from a water station at The Loeb Boathouse. I saw some of the fastest men in the country go by. After a handful went past, I noticed one fall down by the water station and get back up. Like the rest, he was a blur in my camera. I didn’t gawk, I knew it was embarrassing for a runner to slip; I just went on my way after most of the runners passed by, and didn’t notice anyone leaving the course.
I hope it wasn’t Ryan Shay. Ryan died today while running in this race, at mile 5.5. 28 years old. Goddamn it.
I took a photo of some of the runners (above), and the guy who fell is the ‘blur’ by the water station. I guess it doesn’t really matter whether that’s Ryan or not, it just makes you feel so incredibly sad that this can happen during something we all do, and love, every day.
It’s indeed a sad day for Ryan’s family, friends, New York, and the running community.
7 comments:
It's so tragic. Definitely puts things in perspective.
Don't put off life. Do what you love now. I think he died doing just that.
Jodi
What a sad day for Ryan's family, friends, the very small elite running community, and the sport. We arrived just in time to see the ambulance pass by and wondered what happened. What a tragedy.
And I have an eerily similar blurry photo.
Such incredibly sad news. I watched the trials on my computer, but did not hear about what happened until several hours later. I can't imagine what his family and friends are going through right now. A very sad day for the running community. Stay safe out there tomorrow R, I'll be thinking about you.
So incredibly sad, yes.
This is the first I've heard of it. My heart just breaks for his loved ones. We spend so much time making out bodies as healthy as possible, I guess everyone needs to spend more time appreciating that we're still human, and even the fittest bodies break down sometimes. I second Jodi, appreciate it NOW!
R, I think I saw you today but didn't know until it was too late. Anyhow, nice job out there.
It's odd how when you see somebody running a race 'go down' or leave, you just assume they're OK and it's just a momentary a setback. Usually it is.
There was a moment of silence for Ryan Shay right before the start of yesterday's marathon, and I found myself thinking of him (though I didn't know him) every so often. Well, I don't need to reitierate how sad it was, but I will, it was a sad weekend for many, especially family and friends.
RMc.... I looked for you at every water station on 4th Avenue, but as you can probably guess, when you're in a race that long, you want to just finish and get it over with. I was on the right side of the course, so I figured I had a 50% chance of seeing you, but with the unbelievable crowds, I'm not sure I'd have seen you anyway. I didn't see anybody I knew during the entire race, for that matter. I will say that Brooklyn put on the usual unbelievable party for the runners, and thank you for being part of that. At least you get repaid by seeing most of us feeling and looking good early on, as opposed to the frightening spectacle of seeing exhausted runners hobbling along at the end...
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