Musings on a runner's death

Peter Curtin, age 23, MIT graduate student in chemistry, topper in his Princeton undergraduate class, general all-rounded, collapsed and died at mile 25 of his first marathon. There was absolutely no known medical reason he should not have run the marathon; the cause of death is still under investigation.

From the point of view of materialistic philosophies, there is no sense to be had from this tragedy. All we can do is find the material cause - and maybe be able to screen future runners to prevent further such tragedies. In addition, from the point of view of the religions where God has a Plan, humans may struggle to find just how this fits the unknown divine plan, but must accept that somehow it makes sense. From most of the Indic traditions, whatever one may say about karma, god's will and so on, ultimately one must accept that this is unfathomable. Even if there is some meaning behind this tragedy, it is beyond human comprehension.

There is no comfort to be had from any philosophy. This is a part of the human experience, one simply has to accept it.