Thought for the Day

Thursday, May 15, 2008

This question was presented to the Medtronic Foundation and the Twin Cities Marathon, Inc.
So far, there has been no response.

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There is a rumor that Wisconsin residents will be banned from the Medtronic Global Heroes program in 2009 because Wisconsin has a higher rate of Sudden Cardiac Death than any other state, about 4 times that of Hawaii. I would like to be able to quash this rumor. I want to tell everyone that it isn't true.
However, I thought I should check first, since it sounds like something you might do.
Can you please confirm or deny this rumor?
Thanks,
Jerry Nairn
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It seems likely that the same sort of logic that was applied to diabetics over 40 will be applied to residents of Wisconsin.

Friday, May 9, 2008

2008 Global Heroes Press Release

Well,
The 2008 Global Heroes Press Release went out on 5/2/2008. Here are a few points I found interesting.

The ages of the selected runners were not provided, but since people give their ages when they register for races, it's easy to determine most of them. As in all previous years, at least half of those chosen are over 40. I was able to determine the ages of 16 of the 25 runners, and 9 of those were over 40. The average ages of all the non-diabetics was 46. The three diabetics whose ages I found were 38, 27, and 21.

This statement is included in the press release:

"All runners with medical devices are welcome to apply;"

That is absolutely false.
It would still be false even if the rule against diabetics over 40 was not in place, because there are other rules which prevent many "runners with medical devices" from applying.
The actual Global Heroes guidelines have a similar statement which is also untrue:

"All runners with eligible medical devices are welcome to apply with no restriction on manufacturer."

However, in the guidelines this statement is preceded by a full list of the restrictions on applying.
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