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Marathon lands Gulf coach in hospital
By JAMAL THALJI © St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2001 NEW PORT RICHEY -- Dean Lofton swears: No more marathons. Lying in a hospital bed at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point this week, the longtime Gulf girls cross country and track coach said he won't run another of the grueling, long-distance road races again. Not after dehydration and the 26.2-mile Disney marathon on Jan. 7 resulted in his kidneys shutting down and his hospitalization soon after. Feeling much better now that the pain and what he at first thought were flu-like symptoms have subsided, Lofton swore never again. "No more," he said. "I'm retiring from the marathon business. I'll still run some road races, though." Of course, no one can expect Lofton to give up running completely. It's his job and his passion, after all. But this week has taught the coach an important lesson: Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Did he mention to hydrate? "I will definitely preach it a lot more now," he said. "I will probably practice what I preach a lot better now, too, having been through this. This is not something I would want to go through again. It's pretty miserable." Lofton's ordeal began soon after he finished the Disney marathon, just the second marathon the 40-year-old teacher and coach has ever run. That night, he said he felt "terrible." He stayed home from school last week, believing he had the flu. "For three or four days, I was fighting what I thought was the flu bug," he said. "I went to a doctor's office, and he told me to get to a hospital right away. And I've been here since Thursday." Lofton said doctors told him had he waited another day, he would have been on dialysis. As it was, his kidneys had shut down and the hospital fed him a constant stream of intravenous fluids. Lofton said doctors told him he suffered no permanent damage nor side effects and could be released Wednesday or Thursday. "All my (fluid) levels are slowly getting better," he said. "But they are getting better." Lofton said the marathon started on a cold morning, which might be the reason he misjudged his fluid intake. "It was real cold this year, and when it's cold like that, you don't get a sense of your fluid intake needs," he said. "The doctor tried to explain it to me. He said when your muscles break down, they release some toxins. And your kidneys can't handle it unless you're hydrated enough. "They just shut down on me." Lofton was relieved to learn he would not require dialysis (when a machine would fill in for his failed kidneys, removing toxins from his blood) or a kidney biopsy (when doctors would take a piece of the organ to test it.) "My goal was to finish the thing and push my body to the limit, which I obviously did," he said. "I guess if I had been more stubborn and not gone to the doctor, it could have been a lot worse." He has spent his time in the hospital receiving a steady stream of well-wishers and get-well phone calls. He also had plenty of time to watch football. "They're killing them," Lofton said as New York dismantled Minnesota 41-0 in the NFC Championship on Sunday. His official time, by the way, was 4 hours, 20 minutes. "It's okay," he said.
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