Marathons in the Heat Cause Heat-related Problems: A Brief Lesson In Common Sense

The Associated Press has reported that a man died in a marathon race in record heat today in Chicago. While it was only 88 F, the humidity was very high, making the effect on the human anatomy far more strenous (dehydration sets in much faster in such conditions). Runners know this from experience, and probably from a little education one might easily obtain in Runner's magazines, which often have such articles warning against heat-related injuries.

I used to run 10 kilometer races (10k = about 6.2 miles) into my twenties, and read up on many different kinds of training techniques and the anatomical consequences of this kind of rigor under various conditions. Most of this stuff can be found (now) in popular runner's magazines too.

In short, the one death and 250 injuries were completely forseeable, and altogether avoidable. People who sponsor races and athletes know this. So what kind of mental gear-slippage causes oversights so drastic that people die from them? This sort of reckless regard happens at many kinds of events (not just running events), and seems to be (unfortunately) just part and parcel of most any public event.

Here is the link for the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/sa/news?slug=ap-chicagomarathon-runnerdies&prov=ap&type=lgns


Articles dot the popular runner's magazines warning of just this sort of thing, offering many tips and pointers for how to avoid it. Sometimes, people simply go against their better knowledge.

Christians will encounter the same obstinacy in sharing the Gospel. People will not believe what they cannot see, until the dead body is on the ground. Foresight is not a human speciality, especially not when it requires something of them. This is why some people in Florida can be found buying generators at jacked-up prices just as a well-televised hurricane is about to make landfall.

When you share the Gospel, you can often hear, when you listen to the rejoinders that always come later, the sound of badly formed excuses, some of which will border on the "highly imaginative." They know that they are lying. And so do you. At a certain point, you must simply decide to pray for them and quit forcing the issue, since the one you are talking to has just given up on the pretense of logic.

Some people simply wait for the body, and there is nothing you can do about it. Then -- and only then -- they will call off the race, 250 hospitalizations later.

Lessons learned. Believe true things BEFORE you see their forseeable and ill-fated consequences materialize. This as a practice is simply a sign of maturity, not having to wait for the worst before you recognize the cause-effect relationships we should have learned already by a little observation and induction. The Gospel is, of course, a special case, and the resistance is to be expected as it is "built-in."

If you must run in the heat, bring a bottle of half-orange juice and half water. Make it a 10K race (6.2 miles) instead of a marathon, if you have reason to think the day will be too hot in advance (watch the weather forecasts). Needless deaths are particularly tragic, especially on a day and at an event set apart to promote the idea of health and fitness.

In any case, Christians sharing the Gospel should be prepared -- when the excuses turn irrational -- to simply change the subject and leave on a polite note. After this, one can only pray that others do not experience the "heat-related problems" associated with rejecting the Gospel. The Associated Press has already warned us that some people will simply take their chances.

You have to rest in the goodness of God.