This makes me so so sad to read about Paul Melby, a 35 year old runner from Byron, Minnesota who died after crossing the finish line of the Lake Wobegon Trail marathon in Minnesota on Saturday.

I heard about it yesterday, but thought I read that he had finished in 5 hours.  The article today says he finished in 3:14:39.  Which made me think, wow, that’s fast and I looked and for a 35 year old man, that is a BQ.  So I looked up his race times on athlinks and in the past year he’s run marathons in 3:41, 3:49 and 3:38.  Which made me think he was aiming specifically for a BQ on Saturday.  And got it, but paid the ultimate price.  Did he push too hard and strain his heart too much?  Or was it one of those completely freak things you hear about, where a young marathoner dies, and then is found to have an underlying condition of some sort?

I don’t know Paul, but I feel so sad for his family.  Rest in peace, Paul Melby.