Much has been written about the tragic year for the marathon in 2007 and we were all hoping for a better year in 2008. Sadly, tragedy has struck the race again during this weekend’s 6th Little Rock Marathon.

Adam Nickel, of Madison, Wis., was pronounced dead late Sunday morning near the finish line of the race, which attracted about 9,000 entrants, race officials said.

Nickel, 27 was an experienced runner having completed 6 marathons and finished this race in under 3 hours – even looking strong at the finish according to the race director. He collapsed shortly after crossing the finish line and emergency crews were unable to resuscitate him. The cause of death hasn’t been determined as of writing this post – however one doctor speculated some type of congenital heart condition which sounds similar to last year’s marathon deaths.

According to MarathonGuide.com Nickel ran a 2:54 marathon last year at Las Vegas.

From Fox 16 News and Arkansas Online.

[tags] Marathon, Little Rock, Arkansas [/tags]