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Return to running's just heart smart

By LARRY BUGG
Published March 23, 2006

Many people run to avoid having a heart attack. Paul Dorey took a little different approach.

The 66-year-old retired mechanical engineer, who was born in Boston, had two cases of cardiac arrest, then became a serious distance runner. It works for Dorey.

Dorey ran before his health problems, but he took the unusual approach to avoid another massive heart attack - his last in July 1998 when he was 58. He was living in Citrus Springs then, but has since moved to Hernando.

"I was in full cardiac arrest twice," Dorey said.

No, he didn't start running right away.

"It started with a walking program," Dorey said. "I was walking 5 miles a day. That's when I met Colon Joiner (former president of the Citrus Road Runners) at the Citrus Middle School track. He kept telling me I ought to be running. Three months after the attack, I discussed it with the doctor, Dr. Sharon Martin, a cardiologist. She said go ahead and do it, take my time and build it up slowly."

Yes, he had some pain along with the gains.

Dorey said the first time he tried 2 miles, he thought he was going to die. After he began the running program, Dorey went back to a doctor for a nuclear stress test. He said 30 percent of his heart muscles were dead.

Later, those "dead muscles" came back and he became a happy "loser."

"They used to say it doesn't come back," Dorey said. "I also lost 54 pounds. That didn't hurt. They started using me and Charlie Blaisdell, who has a pacemaker. He had a low heart rate.

"We were like the poster children for Citrus cardiology. It was the fact that after a heart attack you could do all these things."

Dorey said that one year to the day after his heart attack, he ran the Citrus 5K at the Citrus Springs Middle School. He came in second in his age group.

He has plenty of hardware to show that running works for him. He now has more than 100 medals from top three places earned in around 130 races.

Since that time, he started running 5K races. Since then, he has done five marathons. He competed in the Country Music Marathon in Nashville three times and the Disney Marathon twice.

"The first one was really tough," he said. "It was tough to even walk. You learn to train.

"I train with Tony Matthews, 68, and Susie Moncrief, 70. I ran the first with Susie. She is mostly doing half marathons now. She is close to No. 1 in the state in her age group."

Today, Dorey runs 20 miles a week, often with his girlfriend of one year, Mary Hamilton.

The enthusiastic runner doesn't just run because his life may depend on it.

"I enjoy it," said Dorey, who also serves Citrus Roadrunners board of directors. "It keeps the weight off. Susie, Tony and I run the Withlacoochee Trail 8 to 12 miles regularly. I like the camaraderie. You get to meet a lot of nice people when you do the races."

He said the 30 percent of his heart has come back. Tests show no damage whatsoever. "I probably would have been dead now if I hadn't started running," he said.

Today, Dorey is truly happy to run for his life.

CITRUS ROAD RUNNERS RACES: The group will host the Citrus Summer Showdown 5K July 8 at Whispering Pines Park. The Citrus Road Run 5K will be Aug. 5 at Citrus Middle School. Beat the Sheriff will be in downtown Inverness on Sept. 30. The Jingle Bell 5K will be Dec. 9 in Inverness. Contact chris@drcsports.com

[Last modified March 23, 2006, 02:15:42]