So, Geoff had been training for quite a while looking forward to August 25th, the day he would run the half marathon. He woke up about 4:15 am and met up with Brandon, who then drove them up to the course in Park City. Geoff had been training at a 9 minute mile, but wanted to be a little more competitive the day of the race. He wasn't in it just for the run, he wanted to compete with the front runners!!
Well, compete he did, up until about the 1tth mile when he decided to slow down. From mile 8 until 12 he was really struggling and new something was wrong when his calves wanted to give out. He had been ahead of Brandon the entire time, but towards the very end, into the 12th mile, Brandon caught up, and Geoff told him to go ahead because he wasn't feeling too well. When Brandon finished the race, and Geoff still wasn't near, he heard that someone had collapsed and an ambulance was on its way. Brandon had a feeling that it was Geoff, so he ran back to find out, and sure enough he was right.
Geoff doesn't remember anything after passing out, up until the hospital, but Brandon was told that some woman caught him as he was falling, and layed him down. About 10 minutes after Brandon came to his rescue, the ambulance arrived and took them to the emergency room at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake. During the drive in the ambulance, Geoff threw up on three EMT's!!! (I am sure they appreciated that)
Brandon called me when they got to the ER, and told me, "Don't go into Labor but Geoff collapsed during the run and we are at the U of U E.R." Of course I panicked, and when I got off the phone I began crying, hurried and left and picked up Lyn (Geoff's mom) on the way.
When we got there, they would only let me back to see him, and when I got back to the room he was in, he had no idea who I was. I was so scared at that moment because it was like he went into some sort of shock and could not speak. The doctors thought he maybe had a mild seizure, but when Geoff came to, he explained that he knew who I was and saw me, but he just didn't have any control over himself. It was a very very scary moment for me to see him like that. He has always been Mr. tough guy in my mind, and to see him helpless was a total shock. So, it took him hours to recover and he was in the E.R. from about 9:30-3:30. I had told him I wished that I was the one in the hospital (having the baby) and not him!!! I drove him home and he tried to begin recovering by taking a nap and drinking some Powerade. Well, the recovery was cut short when he had to drive me to the hospital just a few hours later when my water broke at 2 am!!!
All in all, Geoff did not complete the marathon by only a few hundred yards unfortunately. I thought with Geoff's determination he would want to one day run another 1/2 marathon, but he has decided that running long distances at such a fast pace is probably not for him.
We are grateful he is ok, and he is taking some time off before beginning to run again!!!
OH.....I guess I should mention that he had heat exhaustion and was severely dehydrated, and that is what caused the collapse!
Well, compete he did, up until about the 1tth mile when he decided to slow down. From mile 8 until 12 he was really struggling and new something was wrong when his calves wanted to give out. He had been ahead of Brandon the entire time, but towards the very end, into the 12th mile, Brandon caught up, and Geoff told him to go ahead because he wasn't feeling too well. When Brandon finished the race, and Geoff still wasn't near, he heard that someone had collapsed and an ambulance was on its way. Brandon had a feeling that it was Geoff, so he ran back to find out, and sure enough he was right.
Geoff doesn't remember anything after passing out, up until the hospital, but Brandon was told that some woman caught him as he was falling, and layed him down. About 10 minutes after Brandon came to his rescue, the ambulance arrived and took them to the emergency room at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake. During the drive in the ambulance, Geoff threw up on three EMT's!!! (I am sure they appreciated that)
Brandon called me when they got to the ER, and told me, "Don't go into Labor but Geoff collapsed during the run and we are at the U of U E.R." Of course I panicked, and when I got off the phone I began crying, hurried and left and picked up Lyn (Geoff's mom) on the way.
When we got there, they would only let me back to see him, and when I got back to the room he was in, he had no idea who I was. I was so scared at that moment because it was like he went into some sort of shock and could not speak. The doctors thought he maybe had a mild seizure, but when Geoff came to, he explained that he knew who I was and saw me, but he just didn't have any control over himself. It was a very very scary moment for me to see him like that. He has always been Mr. tough guy in my mind, and to see him helpless was a total shock. So, it took him hours to recover and he was in the E.R. from about 9:30-3:30. I had told him I wished that I was the one in the hospital (having the baby) and not him!!! I drove him home and he tried to begin recovering by taking a nap and drinking some Powerade. Well, the recovery was cut short when he had to drive me to the hospital just a few hours later when my water broke at 2 am!!!
All in all, Geoff did not complete the marathon by only a few hundred yards unfortunately. I thought with Geoff's determination he would want to one day run another 1/2 marathon, but he has decided that running long distances at such a fast pace is probably not for him.
We are grateful he is ok, and he is taking some time off before beginning to run again!!!
OH.....I guess I should mention that he had heat exhaustion and was severely dehydrated, and that is what caused the collapse!
