The new school is upon us and with it comes the new school athletic year. With that comes something that students, teachers, parents, athletes or just about everyone should be aware of. The danger of athletes ramping up their physical conditioning at the time of the year that is the most dangerous for unknowledgeable or heedless participants.
Water
The most common commodity on earth. The world is 75 percent water, which incidentally, is the same proportion that the human body is made up of. Life requires water, and without it or the proper amount of it, things can go south.
Back in the early 1970s, Harding University was conducting a cross country practice on the hills and bluffs north of Searcy. The temperature was in the mid 90s on that late summer afternoon with the humidity matching the temperature.
The 19-man squad was doing a workout called the Coronary Hill Run. Seven miles over several hills and then up a very steep hill road which was over a half mile up. One of the athletes that day was especially motivated to impress the coach and was bent on breaking the course record.
Sure enough, that athlete left the pack in the literal dust and was well on the way to breaking 50 minutes for the arduous seven-mile race. However, about a quarter-mile from the finish line, the runner started to weave and stumble with said runner having a hard time seeing the way ahead. When he crossed the finish line, he went down like he had been shot, feeling like someone had turned a flame thrower on him.
The coaches' assistants grabbed this runner and walked him to the team van to sit on the back bumper. The heat flash had given way to feelings of cold, and then he was overtaken by the feeling of something like bugs crawling over his skin from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Through all these physical stages of discomfort, the runner had lost the ability to speak, only communicating by nodding his head.
After being taken back to the gym, the athletes all weighed in with the stricken runner discovering that he had lost more than 7 pounds in perspiration on that particular run. He was then taken to his room at the college where his friends brought him two large cans of Hi-C and many cups of water and he slowly regained the ability to speak. He didn't move around much for the next few days after going to the infirmary and being told to take it easy for a few days.
No one, not the coach, or the assistants, or even the infirmary personnel recognized that the runner had just suffered a heat stroke. Not only did it effectively ruin his chances for a good season, it very nearly ended his life. Astonishingly, at the time, no one knew or realized it. Several years would go by before this athlete would be seen by a doctor who, after the story was related to him, informed him what had truly happened on that August afternoon. It was a bit sobering to hear to hear the doctor tell him that he was probably about 99 percent on the way to death.
This is the time of the year that high school athletes hit the football fields, cross country courses, tennis courts, golf courses and other venues to train their bodies to meet the demands of the athletic competitions they will be facing.
Kendrick Fincher was a junior high football player in Rogers several years ago who wasn't ready for the heat and humidity having just moved in from the Pacific northwest. His season and life were cut short after he died in the opening week of training camp. He wasn't hydrated enough for his body to function properly. The coach he had wasn't aware of the necessity of water intake to sustain human life in the kind of weather they were experiencing.
When I was a kid, our air conditioner was an exhaust fan in the back of the house. I was always thirsty but I drank a lot of water so it wasn't a problem. We had a garden hose hung on the back of the house where we could go to get a drink while outside.
Kids today live in mostly air conditioned houses, ride in air conditioned cars, and usually drink sodas, or other kinds of packaged beverages when thirsty. The American lifestyle has left a lot of people under hydrated. While being underhydrated is not good for optimal health, it becomes dangerous when such a person is outside working or playing in hot, humid environments.
Pea Ridge has a trained coaching staff who make sure that the dangers of heat related injuries are eliminated. Just this past week, Pea Ridge cross country coach Heather Wade was given an award by the Kendrick Fincher Foundation for the outstanding way in which she cares for her athletes in providing water and making sure they are prepared and ready. The local athletics staff is likely second to none in providing a safe environment in which to participate in athletics.
Water is something everyone should drink more of. The body functions far more efficiently with the proper hydration. Contrary to all the sports drinks ads, and all those commercials you might see on TV, nothing is better than water.
That Harding runner back in the '70s nearly died but didn't know it. When he started to go through the phases of the onset of the stroke, he had no idea of what was going on nor did anyone else. Luckily, he didn't pass away.
Because, if he had, you wouldn't be reading this column.
Writers note: Anyone wanting to know more about proper hydration and how to keep your loved ones safe, log onto to kendrickfincher.org, a website dedicated to informing the public of the dangers of heat related injuries. It was established by Fincher's parents who have been working diligently since the loss of their son to prevent any other parent from suffering the pain and ordeal that they endured.
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the author. Mr. McGee can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 08/03/2016