Cramp Forces Man to Crawl Across Finish Line at New York City Triathlon

Just so you know, that athlete is my brother, Brent McMahon, and he didn't have a leg cramp. The weather that day was very hot and very humid and his body became dehydrated and heat exhaustion set in. He had to crawl across the finish line because he had expended every last ounce of energy he had.

After finally collapsing on the finishing line he went hypothermic, they could barely get a heart rate because his heart was beating so fast, and he basically couldn't remember much of the last part of the race, nor after it, not even the rush to the hospital in an ambulance where he later regained consciousness hooked up to what seemed like a dozen different machines with wires and tubes protruding everywhere. It took 4 full IV bags and several glasses of water to bring him back to being stable.

After a scary night in the hospital (the attending doctor though he might have a serious heart murmur but that has since been proven false), Brent was released and has since recovered. In fact, he did most of a half Iron Man Triathlon in Corner Brook Newfoundland the weekend after this race but dropped out 10km into the run (after having completed almost 60 of the 70.3 miles of the race) because his knee was sore from falling on it so many times in the NY triathlon.

Cudos to the girl who broke her leg and crawled across the finish line, but my brother's one tough hombre if you ask me. There wasn't much left of him when he finally collapsed on that line; it's a miracle he even made it there.

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