Tragedy Mars Detroit Marathon

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Oct 19, 2009 2:40PM

Strange, tragic happenings in Detroit where yesterday three runners died in a 16-minute span while participating in the Detroit Marathon. The men were identified as Daniel Langdon, 36, of Laingsburg, MI; Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, OH, and Jon Fenlon, 26, of Waterford, MI. Weather conditions were good for running with temps around 28 degrees at the start of the race, rising to the low 40s throughout the morning. According to the Detroit Free-Press, Langdon collapsed at 9:02 a.m., near the intersection of Michigan Ave and First, between miles 11 and 12. Just 15 minutes later, Brown fell and hit his head a few blocks west of where Langdon had collapsed. A minute later, at 9:18 a.m., Fenlon collapsed just after completing the half-marathon, being run in conjunction with the full marathon. Rich Harshbarger, vice president of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership, said medical personnel had excellent response times, arriving on each scene within seconds. Autopsies on all three men were expected today.

Overall, 19,000 runner took part in the race yesterday in Detroit. The deaths resonated here in Chicago where just two years ago, 35-year-old Chad Schieber collapsed and died while running the Chicago Marathon. That race, unlike yesterdays, had been troubled by intense, unseasonable heat.