Shay dies during U.S. Olympic marathon trials

NEW YORK -- Ryan Shay and Ryan Hall hoped to celebrate together with their wives after the U.S. men's marathon Olympic trials.

Now Hall, the trials champ, faces a future of all he dreamed about and what he never imagined: the glory of the Olympics, the heartbreak of a funeral.

Shay, one of America's top distance runners, collapsed and died not even six miles into Saturday's race. Minutes after Hall crossed the finish line in record time, his arms raised in triumph, he heard the unthinkable news.

Shay was 28. He was one of Hall's former training partners, and his wife was Hall's college teammate at Stanford.

"That just cut me straight to the heart," Hall said. "It makes you forget what you just did."

What was supposed to be a glorious weekend for the sport became instead a wake. And that somber mood is sure to carry over to Sunday's New York City Marathon, in which 38,000 runners will compete.

"It's a big loss for the running community," said 2004 Olympic women's marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor, who used to train with Shay in California. "It's a day we should be celebrating. It has cast a pall."

Organizers had decided to pair the trials with the storied annual marathon, hoping the timing would attract large crowds. The plan worked, as fans fought gusty winds to line the compact 26.2-mile course, which began in Rockefeller Center and traipsed through Times Square before heading to Central Park for five loops.

They witnessed a potentially historic day for American marathon running. Hall, a 25-year-old who had never raced the distance before April, established himself as a contender in Beijing, with a trials record time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 2 seconds. He was followed by Dathan Ritzenhein (2:11:07) and Brian Sell (2:11:40), who will join him in China.

Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, was hobbled by cramps in both calves and fell back to eighth.

But back about 5½ miles into the race Shay had collapsed. He was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 8:46 a.m., according to New York City police.

"He was a tremendous champion who was here today to pursue his dreams," said Craig Masback, CEO of USA Track & Field. "The Olympic trials is traditionally a day of celebration, but we are heartbroken."

No immediate cause of death was announced, and the medical examiner's office said an autopsy will be performed Sunday.

Shay's coach, Joe Vigil, said he wasn't aware of any health problems.

"He was the epitome of athleticism," Vigil said. "I don't know what caused it."

A recreational runner died during last month's Chicago Marathon, the warmest in that event's history. But the death of an elite athlete during a major competition is a rare and startling occurrence.

On Friday, Hall and his wife, Sara, and Shay and his wife, Alicia, went for a run in Central Park. Shay seemed fine, Sara Hall said.

"I've had a few downs -- since 2004, I've had injuries here and there, but I've come back and I've been able to get in the training that I feel I need," he said at a news conference. "This is the best U.S. marathon field we've had in a long time, but I guess that's why you run the race -- to see who has it in the end."

Saturday, Shay hit the ground near the Central Park boathouse, a popular Manhattan tourist spot. New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg, whose organization hosted the event, said Shay received immediate medical attention but would not elaborate on what steps were taken. A statement from USA Track & Field said Shay immediately received CPR.

"He crossed right in front of me and stepped off the course," said runner Marc Jeuland of Chapel Hill, N.C., who did not see Shay collapse. "He nearly tripped me. He would not have been taxed at that point."

Shay was born May 4, 1979, in Ann Arbor, Mich., one of eight children in a running family. His parents are the cross country and track coaches at Michigan's Central Lake High School.

Joe and Susan Shay were not in New York on Saturday, because they had two runners competing in the Michigan cross country state championships, said Central Lake athletic director Quinn Barry.

At Notre Dame, Shay earned the school's first national individual track title with his victory in the NCAA 10,000 meters. There, he often ran with Wittenberg, who was attending law school. Shay went on to become a five-time national road racing champion, winning the 2003 U.S. marathon, 2003 and 2004 half-marathon, 2004 20k and 2005 15k.

He trained in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., with the Halls, Keflezighi and Kastor before moving to Flagstaff, Ariz.

"If you probably asked him if there was any way he wanted to go, it was out on the race course," said Terrence Mahon, who coached him in Mammoth.

Abdi Abdirahman, who dropped out of the marathon because of injury, trained with Shay for the past 3½ months in Flagstaff.

"I'm speechless. I still don't believe it," he said. "I probably was the last person to talk to him. We ate breakfast together, we ate lunch together, went to bed at the same time."

The post-race news conference with the three Olympic qualifiers was a surreal experience for Hall. He started to say something about Shay, not realizing the death hadn't been announced, and was cut off by an official. After several questions about the race, a shaken Wittenberg finally interrupted to announce Shay's death.

For Hall, Saturday culminated a reluctant route to the marathon. Neither Hall nor the second-place finisher, 24-year-old Ritzenhein, had run a marathon as of a year ago. Saturday marked the second career race at the distance for both.

Hall broke away from the leading pack of five runners at about the 17th mile Saturday. He looked relaxed and fresh the entire race and was pumping his fist and bellowing over the final miles.

Too soon, those bellows became hushed words of shock and sympathy.

Back in Michigan, the Central Lake athletic director's voice cracked over the phone as he reminisced.

"This is a little town," Barry said. "People really rally around people like Ryan. ... He did things the right way for the right reasons."