Every time a runner dies while practicing physical activity, especially if his last breath is during a race, a flood of astonishment, to say the least, dominates the true parallel universe that is the world of running.
It took place on Sunday, November 10th, at Meia de Sampa, a competition run by Norte, a user company that often promotes tax-free events. But it already occurred in 2016 at a Night Run (North, again) and, three years later, in a marvel in Uberlândia, to name just two examples.
The “patron” of this macabre business is, one might say, the writer James Fixx, author of the seminal “Complete Guide to Running”, a best-seller that helped consolidate the running boom at the end of the 20th century in the United States.
In the case of Fixx, who had heart problems, he was the victim of a massive attack while running alone during training.
The North was already being shot due to delays and problems with the Meia de Sampa route, and this added to the misfortune of Marcelo Mariano da Silva, who was 52 years old. The company took a long time to officially comment and, when it did, it declined service hours for the corridor, stating that the ambulance took 5 minutes to reach the location where the victim was from the moment the organization was contacted.
He also made a point of saying that Silva died in the hospital where he was taken. Interestingly, the statement says “it is not prudent” to state the “exact times” of the events — which are detailed in detail.
It is the company’s responsibility to maintain a medical structure compatible with the event and the public authorities’ responsibility to monitor it. Crashes can occur at both ends, and fatal events may unfortunately serve to improve these actions. But it is not possible, without impartial investigation, to accuse this or that one.
With all this, I close with the explorer, adventurer and writer Guilherme Cavallari, perhaps the best author of travel books in Brazil, a literary school so poorly represented here. For him, “dying is part of the game.”
Guilherme is not referring to Silva, but to what usually happens in his preferred setting, nature. “Whether the equipment is adequate or not; whether the climate is favorable or not, we need to remember that all these and other elements are part of the game. In contact with nature, there are risks involved”, he told me when the runner died. Gilbert Eric Welterlin’s adventure at Pico dos Marins, the same peak that five years later would serve as the setting for Pablo Marçal’s famous presepada.
Guilherme opposes even more emphatically what experts usually call the “golden rule” at these funeral times — never climbing the mountain alone.
“I am bothered by the argument that mountaineering is a very dangerous thing, that it should only be practiced by professionals, and that there is a ‘golden rule’, that one should not practice an adventure sport alone. I consider myself an expert in adventure sport and I don’t know about this rule. Solitary activity can be a source of great pleasure, of challenge, I don’t see any problem. [em praticá-la solitariamente] as long as you accept that dying is part of the game, that getting hurt is part of the game.”
In street racing, dying is also part of the game, which is why it is recommended to listen to your body from time to time. Check-ups, treadmill tests, all the paraphernalia.
(Not that I, long-conquered Cape of Storms, do that, but to adapt the old adage, read what I write, not do what I do.)
And, finally, it’s worth saying that inactivity kills much more than physical activity, in addition to making life much more limited, and not just physically speaking.
As I’ve said before here, when in doubt, run.
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