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Area runner dies at end of race

New Lebanon’s O’Connell showed no signs of distress.

Harold O’Connell, 53, passed away after running in a race at the Taylorsville MetroPark last week.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Marc F. Pendleton, Staff Writer 11:08 PM Monday, August 8, 2011

By all accounts, Harold O’Connell had just finished the race of his life.

He had set a goal of finishing in less than 90 minutes in last Saturday’s Tadmor 10K at the Taylorsville MetroPark. It was 6.2 miles through some of the most idyllic paths and wilderness that the Miami Valley can offer. That was an ideal setting for a dedicated civil servant who worked the last 23 years for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Near the end O’Connell encouraged a fellow runner. “Let’s finish strong,” he said.

After stopping, he high-fived a race official and looked at his watch. He had stopped it at 1 hour, 29 minutes, a personal best for him on the course.

Seconds later, O’Connell collapsed. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. At 53, he was dead.

Ohio River Road Runners Club vice president John Comeskey said CPR was immediately performed on O’Connell. A park ranger also worked on him with a defibrillator within minutes.

“It wasn’t like he was running a marathon that he wasn’t trained for,” Comeskey said.

“I don’t know why his body decided to give up at that moment. It’s shocking.”

O’Connell, 6 feet 5 inches, was no novice runner. He had run both the Pittsburgh and Columbus marathons and even had trekked the formidable — and notoriously hilly — Parkersburg (W.Va.) half-marathon.

He often competed in local ORRRC races.

O’Connell’s older brother, Bill, an associate professor of English at Ohio Northern University, introduced Harold to running about 20 years ago.

“If he could have picked a way to go, that was it,” Bill said Monday.

“He died doing something he loved. The only thing he would have done differently is kissed his family goodbye.”

His wife Lisa said Harold lamented their move to New Lebanon seven years ago because he feared RTA transportation to the Dayton EPA downtown office would not be available. It was.

She said he was such a devoted environmentalist, he wouldn’t purchase another auto for transportation.

“All the people on the bus knew him,” Lisa said. “Even the bus driver invited him to his wedding. How many bus drivers would do that?”

Although rare, it’s not unusual for runners to collapse and die during or after racing or training.

Ryan Shay, 28, was favored to earn a place on the U.S. Men’s Olympic team in the marathon when he collapsed and died at 5.5 miles of the trials in New York City in November 2007. He suffered from an undiagnosed enlarged heart and irregular heartbeat.

Perhaps the most famous death of a runner was that of Jim Fixx. An Oberlin College graduate, Fixx authored the 1977 best-selling The Complete Book of Running and is credited with helping jump-start the fitness revolution of that era. He died in 1984 following a daily run. He was 52.

Like Fixx, O’Connell likely was genetically predisposed to a fatal heart condition. Bill O’Connell said their father died at age 42 of a heart attack.

“A lot of times in folks who are very fit, there is some issue with the heart that hasn’t been diagnosed,” said Dr. Mark Krebs of the Miami Valley Cardiologists who specializes in sudden death and abnormal heart rhythms.

Dr. Krebs said most elite athletes who suddenly die suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an electrical disturbance that causes a fatal heart rhythm. Coronary heart disease and predisposition to other heart ailments mostly affect those of O’Connell’s age.

“The most common cause is a thickness of the heart muscle walls which leads to elevated problems, then life-threatening problems,” Dr. Krebs said.

“It’s a difficult thing to diagnose. A lot of times victims are completely asymptomatic.”

Joe Smindak, also an avid runner and a longtime ORRRC officer, worked with O’Connell at the Ohio EPA. He remembered a dedicated supervisor who was a noon-time fixture on the river corridor for lunch-time training runs.

Smindak said he worked the last 20 years with O’Connell. Most recently they had targeted brown fields throughout the area.

“From people who were there, he showed no signs of distress,” Smindak said.

“I’m 50. Typically, we don’t think about someone passing along at that young of age. It’s going to take a while for this to sink in.”

Lisa O’Connell said her husband regularly donated blood — “he had his five-gallon pin” — and also helped raise puppies for K-9 Companions. He also worked at the recent Irish Celtic Festival in Dayton with Bill’s son, Pat. Together, they won a competition for best beer brew.

“He was the type of guy that I always wanted to be,” said his brother Bill.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton@ DaytonDailyNews.com.

Harold O’Connell

Memorial service: 10 a.m. Wednesday, Englewood United Methodist Church.

Memorial donation: Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, in his name.

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