At Kiawah, victory for 1, tragedy for another

From this story in The Post & Courier of Charleston, S.C.:

KIAWAH ISLAND -- Experience plays a major role in long distance road racing, but it didn't count for much in the 32nd annual Kiawah Island Marathon and Half Marathon on Saturday.

In [his] first marathon and half marathon, the male [winner] not only won, but won convincingly.

BLAIR TEAL, 23, of GASTONIA, N.C., was beaming and chuckling as he recounted his first marathon, which he finished in elite time of 2:29:57 -- more than eight minutes faster than the second-place finisher Brian Knapp of Hilton Head.

Teal, who had a bad knee for the past two weeks, started the race at a fast clip of 5:40 per mile and felt comfortable."

I was relaxed. I wasn't breathing hard. I was even talking to people," said Teal, who ran for Appalachian State until he graduated in 2008.

Then he sped to a 5:20 pace, running with a half marathoner, but worried about losing it after Mile 16. Teal made sure to alternate energy gels and sports drinks every other mile to keep up his energy and cruised in at a 5:25 pace for the last three miles of the 26.2-mile run.

While he has "promised (his) knees two weeks off," Teal says his ultimate goal is the qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. "I have no anticipation of making it to the Olympics, but making it to the trials will just make me happy. I don't care about fame or money. I just love running."

At the end of the same story:

Saturday's race had a tragic note. A 37-year-old North Carolina man collapsed, suffering a heart attack, near the end of the half marathon. While a trauma doctor, also running the race, stopped to help and rode with the man in an ambulance to the hospital, the man died later in the afternoon. His wife and another relative also ran the race.

I'm told the victim once worked at the Charlotte-based (and now-defunct) EquiFirst Corporation, for about eight years, but don't have any more information at this point.