Runner's 'anguish' inspired gift of relief

Star Tribune

Last update: October 12, 2009 - 9:11 PM

The guardian angel who sacrificed a spare catheter explained Monday that it was an 81-year-old marathoner's "sense of urgency" that prompted him to give the runner the relief he needed to stay in the race and win his age group.

Jerry Johncock, of Gun Lake, Mich., was the first of two men age 80 to 84 to finish the 26.2-mile Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 4, but only after he pulled over near Mile 21 in search of a catheter. He said a blood clot prevented him from urinating on his own.

"I was nearby the commotion ... heard Jerry's anguish and sense of urgency," Rob Youcha, who was a volunteer along the route, said Monday. "As a retired paramedic after 27 years and disabled in the line of duty, I just had to step in."

Youcha, of St. Francis, said a spinal cord injury requires him to keep catheters on hand.

"I told him I had an extra, [and] he gratefully accepted," said Youcha, who retrieved the device from his vehicle nearby. "He hopped into the back of a parked ambulance and exited with a really big smile."

Johncock finished the race in 5 hours, 22 minutes and 11 seconds.

His accomplishment was not official for a day last week, after race officials considered whether he had broken the rules by accepting unofficial medical assistance. Officials declared Johncock the winner, however, and he will soon receive $225 for winning his age group.

PAUL WALSH

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