She Had Open-Heart Surgery—and Vows to Qualify for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials

Runner's World ^ | January 15, 2019 | Taylor Dutch

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Erin Menefee’s doctors have a nickname for her: Supergirl. Similar to the comic book hero, the 26-year-old physical therapist has faced obstacles head-on with tenacity. But in her case, her superhuman strength comes in the form of running marathons less than two years after open-heart surgery.

Menefee first noticed something wrong in December of 2015, when she took off on a long run during a break in her day at San Diego State University, where she was studying to become a physical therapist. At the time, the former collegiate runner for the University of Arizona was training for a transition to the marathon distance.

Twelve miles into her 15-miler, Menefee’s heart starting beating at an alarmingly fast pace. Pain shot down her left arm.

As a former collegiate runner for the University of Arizona, Menefee was well-acquainted with the shortness of breath caused by hard runs. But this was different. No matter how badly her body wanted to take in oxygen, she still could not breathe. She had to stop, and started taking deep breaths, but it didn’t really help.

“I thought I was having a heart attack,” Menefee told Runner’s World.

At the time, she was only 24 years old.

Still breathing heavily, Menefee was able to get herself back to the house and immediately went to the emergency room. The doctors didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but they still referred her to a cardiologist.

[Gay State Conservative]

She might wanna research the story...the *whole* story...of Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis before she gets her hopes up.

[heartwood]

I thought Lewis suffered cocaine-induced dysrhythmia. This girl had misconnected blood vessels, which are now corrected.

[Gay State Conservative]

You're thinking of Len Bias...a top Celtics draft pick who was killed by cocaine.Reggie Lewis had what turned out to be a lethal heart disorder for which he sought treatment at two major Boston hospitals.One hospital told him he could play,the other told him he shouldn't. He listened to the "you can play" hospital...and paid the price.

I know that the two cases aren't identical but IMO this woman would be wise to be cautious.

[heartwood]

Oops. Thanks. Although there are rumors about Lewis and cocaine.

[Truthoverpower]

Stupidity
Running
Ask Jim fixx

[DIRTYSECRET]

Karl Wallenda. Not running but how’s that for taking a risk?

[RoosterRedux]

Just because a tiny fraction of people, like Jim Fixx, have congenital or family-related heart problems doesn't mean that an entire sport or for that matter all sport endurance sports should be discouraged.

Your comment represents REAL stupidity.

[goldstategop]

It can take a year to recover. The surgery can save your life but then you’re a candidate for long term care.

And I’m in my 50s.

[originalbuckeye]

Used to work in Boston. Could you please identify which hospital it was that told him not to play? Thanks.

[Arlis]

I had open heart surgery to replace a bad aortic valve when 64, a runner and half-marathoner. While in there they did a triple by-pass to my surprise.

Because my heart was in such good shape, I left hospital in 3rd day, was walking 1 mile/day 7 days after surgery (many still in hospital then) - 3 miles/day 2 weeks after surgery, 5 miles/day 3 weeks after surgery, back to running about 5 months after surgery and ran a 10k 9 months after surgery. God was kind to me.

That was 9 years ago. Pig valve will be good for another 3-4 years, then I’ll need another one.....hoping they can do it through the femoral vein....or artery, whichever it is.......sure don’t want open heart again....