Minneapolis, Minnesota. Meghan Roth, an elite runner, coach, and mother of a nine-month-old living in Minneapolis, suffered a heart attack while running in the 2021 Boston Marathon on October 11th.
Roth has been a passionate athlete for her entire life and even qualified for the USA Olympic Trials after running in the 2019 Boston Marathon.
While walking to this year’s marathon, Roth was both nervous and excited.
“After everything that has happened these past couple of years with Covid, pregnancy, and then a great training cycle postpartum, I was ready to race my next best race of my life,” she posted on her Instagram account @run4prs.coachmeghan.
Roth began the race by easing into the first mile. Soon after, she found other runners to pace herself off of and settled into a steady speed.
“I was feeling good and just cruising. Then suddenly, at mile eight, I basically passed out and blacked out,” Roth said, “It hit me so suddenly and I fell to the ground.”
Marathon runners and observers around Roth said that she looked purple. A young man began to perform CPR until the paramedics arrived.
“Waking up in the ambulance, I was so confused. I went into a brief panic trying to figure it out while the medic calmed me down,” she recalled.
Instagram; pictured above is Meghan
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The medic then told Roth that she had gone into cardiac arrest.
“I woke up to a complete nightmare, meanwhile going into the race all I could think about was how it could be the next best race of my life and I would be able to tell baby Jax all about it when he was older,” Roth said.
Victoria Phillippi has organized a GoFundMe on behalf of Roth in order to support any unforeseen medical expenses.
“Meghan’s life was saved and she was transferred to the hospital where her heart stabilized,” Phillippi wrote, “Meghan is a mom of a nine-month-old. She is away from her baby during this time, over one thousand miles away from home.”
The GoFundMe, with an initial goal of ten thousand dollars, has received tremendous support. The running community has now raised over twenty-one thousand dollars for Roth’s healthcare.
Roth has since recovered well from an ICD implantation and is now back in Minneapolis. In another Instagram post, Roth discussed how grateful she is to be home, and she felt inspired to thank her village of supporters throughout the terrifying situation.
“Life is so amazing. A team of incredible people came together to save my life,” she said, “One of the best things that has come from this is all of the people I have met along the way.”
Roth continues to pray for her health and is so thankful to be back with her baby Jax. She also has no plans to stop running anytime soon.
“Recovery is going well and I am looking forward to easing back into training this week!” she wrote, “Sending love and hugs to everyone that has been here for me. You are amazing. The running community is amazing.”
If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe to help Meghan with her medical bills, you can do that here.