We have all heard of near-death experiences—individuals who report personal encounters associated with impending death and the feelings associated with this phenomenon. Sarasota native Greg Goebel, however, has a much more riveting story than a near-death experience. He actually died while running a marathon. The interesting thing is that he has run 22 marathons following his death in January 2011. How is this, you may ask?

January 9, 2011 It was a day like any other for Greg, the father of three beautiful daughters and the husband of his lovely wife, Ali. Greg awoke in the early hours of the morning to toe the line at his favorite marathon, the Zoom! Yah! Yah! Indoor Marathon in Northfield, Minnesota. This event is held on an elevated indoor track at St. Olaf College and requires 150 laps to complete the marathon distance.

The race began and everything was normal for Greg as he approached the half-marathon point. Greg was certainly no stranger to the marathon distance and had completed 48 marathons since his first in February 2008, including Zoom! Yah! Yah! the previous year.

During the lap before Greg’s death, he was having a great time and was running with the race director’s daughter. When he began to feel lightheaded and “weird,” she mentioned that her father had just put out bananas at the aid station on the opposite side of the track. Instead of taking an immediate detour to the table, for fear of cutting off fellow runners, Greg ran another lap.

When he reached the aid station 50 feet beyond the half-marathon distance, he grabbed a banana and took a bite and a drink, and it was then that Greg knew something was not quite right. He reached down to brace himself on the track and woke up four and a half days later. It was in that moment that Greg Goebel, age 56, died and remained dead for about three or four minutes.

As luck would have it, Dr. Bob Aby was running about half a lap behind Greg and immediately rushed to his side to begin CPR. Nurse Heather Ann Holley jumped in to assist Dr. Aby in reviving Greg, who had also aspirated the banana he was eating when he dropped to the ground. Although they were able to restart Greg’s heart, he didn’t regain consciousness until days later. He was flown to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where it was determined that he had suffered from sudden cardiac arrest.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is defined as a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. If this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs, usually resulting in death if not treated within minutes. Most instances that are related to cardiac deaths within athletes are a result of SCA. One well-known instance of this was the death of Ryan Shay, who collapsed during the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City. It was later determined that Shay’s death was linked to SCA due to a cardiac arrhythmia.

Although Greg was technically already in a coma, he was forced into a medically induced coma as doctors put him through what is referred to as the Cool It protocol. During this protocol, Greg was given paralytics so he was unable to move and then packed in ice to lower his body temperature to between 91 and 92 degrees Fahrenheit to preserve the brain. Statistically, only 7 percent of people who have SCA outside of a hospital will survive. Only one-tenth of that 7 percent will survive without brain damage. The odds were certainly stacked against Greg.

Miraculously, four and a half days after Greg was flown to Abbott Northwestern, he awoke. He hadn’t the slightest idea that he had died and felt no pain whatsoever. “It was a surreal experience. I woke up and felt fine. . . . I had no pain. It

was easy for me because I didn’t even know I had died. It was my wife and family who suffered, not really knowing if I was going to live.” The first pain Greg experienced following his death and resurrection was when doctors immediately decided he needed to have an internally contained defibrillator implanted. He described it as “a pacemaker on steroids” that can shock the

© MarathonFoto

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Greg finishes his first ultramarathon in February, in the best shape of his life!

© Mary Lenari

© Abby Smith

© Ken Shelton Photography

© Chad Thomas

heart back into a normal pattern of beating, in turn saving his life if his heart were to malfunction again. Due to the fact that Greg did not have a traditional heart attack, the cause of his death is unknown. He didn’t have any blockage, and doc

tors don’t know whether his death was caused by running. He believes, however, that his physical conditioning saved his life. He is certainly aware of his health and views his defibrillator as a “security blanket” that gives him the confidence

to continue to run. He would not risk running without it. Greg was cleared to run on February 2, 2011, just three weeks after his death. Since then, Greg has run 22 more marathons, including the 2012 Zoom! Yah! Yah! Indoor Marathon, making his total 70 thus far.

▲ Clockwise, from the top left: The finish line at the Delaware Marathon—Greg’s 50th and final state to officially become a 50-state marathon club member! An embrace at the finish from Dr. Aby, the man who saved Greg’s life using CPR during the 2011 race. St. Olaf College purchased an AED with proceeds from the 2011 race. Surrounded by fellow Marathon Maniacs and a year following his “death” at this event, Greg returned to the 2012 Zoom! Yah! Yah! to finish what he started!

These days, when attending races, he wears a sign on his front and back that says “LEARN CPR: It saved my life” in hopes that he can inspire people and advocate CPR. He has also spoken at American Heart Association fund-raisers and speaks very graciously on behalf of the outstanding doctors who have blessed him with the opportunity to continue to run. Aside from running, Greg enjoys living, playing tennis, and boating on his vessel named “SECOND CHANCE.”

Greg told me that if he had not woken up that day, he felt he had lived a full and wonderful life but that he was not ready to check out. He also offered the following advice: 1. If you love or care about others, tell them loud and tell them often. You

never know when you may not have the opportunity any longer. 2. Learn CPR. You can save someone’s life. How would you feel if you could have saved someone but were unable to because you didn’t know CPR?

3. Don’t will yourself to death. Oftentimes people shut down mentally and give up on life because of illness or circumstances. Greg hopes that he can inspire in others who face adversity the will to persevere. He refuses to

live a diminished life, and his mind-set is to live each day fully! Each and every time he runs, he feels he is conquering fear with every step.