All three men who collapsed while running the half-marathon of the Detroit Free Press Flagstar Marathon in October died of natural causes, final autopsy results show.
The results of two autopsies -- those of 36-year-old Daniel Langdon of Laingsburg and 26-year-old Jon Fenlon of Waterford -- were finalized Monday by the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office. Both men suffered cardiac dysrhythmia and died of heart attacks, the reports indicate.
An autopsy released a few weeks ago showed Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, Ohio, died of heart disease.
The three men collapsed separately within a 16-minute span Oct. 18 as they ran the 32nd annual marathon in downtown Detroit. Toxicology tests were conducted and detected nothing abnormal in the men's systems at the time of their deaths.
David Langdon, Daniel Langdon's father, said his son never had heart problems before the marathon. The younger Langdon left behind a wife and three children younger than 10, said his father, who lives in Florida.
The family's church and community in the Lansing suburb have been supportive, he said, but the holidays are proving to be difficult.
"Even if you fix everything on the outside, you can't fix the heart," he said.
Fenlon's family declined to comment Monday.
The only other fatality in the marathon's history was in 1994, when 42-year-old Samuel Grafton of Troy died of a heart attack.
Rich Harshbarger, vice president of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership, which cosponsors the race, said Monday the autopsy results won't make it easier for the men's families, "but at least it removes question and doubt as to what the cause was in each case."
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