Cholesterol

Life felt pretty good.This was his third Sun Run.

His fastest time was 56:04 in 2005.

This year he ran it in 65:07.

At least that is what the official record says.

He can't remember.Pahl, an auxiliary Coast Guard member who finished the race in 67:48, watched Curtis spin to the ground in front of him."I figured he was either exhausted and passing out, or he was having a heart attack."Pahl bent in close and could see that Curtis's eyes were open, he was conscious, but looking quite "shocky."He freed the windbreaker that Curtis still clutched in his hand and put it under his head.

"He was still breathing, still had a pulse, but his eyes were glazing over," he recalls.He, and another guy who had knelt down to help, decided to put him in the comfort position- semi-prone with one hand under his ear and the other out front providing stability.The comfort position is standard first aid, it keeps people from aspirating their vomit, something Pahl knew because, as an auxiliary Coast Guard, he'd recently recertified in CPR.

It had caused a bit of tension at home because the exam fell on the same day as his wife's birthday.

She wanted to go out for dinner that night.Instead, Pahl learned the new gold standard of CPR rescue in which artificial respiration is droppe...

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