Few runners ever have come to the aid of an unconscious runner on a race course. Dr. Paul Shore, 45, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, has done it twice.

This month, Shore, a pediatrician at St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia, performed CPR on a runner at the Broad Street Run, a 10-mile race through Philadelphia. He also helped a runner who had collapsed at the 2013 Philadelphia Marathon.

“Call it bad luck or call it good luck,” Shore said of being in the right place at the right time.

Twice he’s beaten races onsite EMT teams to runners in need of medical attention.

On May 3, Shore approached the third mile of the Broad Street Run to a group of runners jumping and waving their arms, yelling for help. A runner had collapsed on the side of the street. He was unconscious.

The man had stopped breathing and turned blue. Shore, with the help of a few others, responded quickly. Someone performed chest compressions as Shore breathed into the stricken runner’s mouth. The man started breathing again, and EMTs arrived soon thereafter.

His duty done, Shore went on to finish the race in 1:44:42. (The year before, without a stop, he had finished in 1:24:24.)

About 18 months earlier at the 2013 Philadelphia Marathon—in his first attempt at the distance—Shore came to the aid of a woman who was unconscious at the 11.5-mile mark.

His fortuitous timing taught him a lesson: “Everybody, every runner out there, should learn CPR,” Shore said.

“These things happen,” Shore said. “EMS does not arrive instantaneously. It always takes some time.”

Dr. William Roberts, the Sports Doc for RunnersWorld.com, agrees, echoing Shore’s sentiment in a post on heart health:

“The first person to respond to a collapsed runner is often another runner. It would be great if all of us learned CPR so we can respond if this happens to a runner on our path or in a race course. Not every runner collapses in front of a trained EMT, nurse, or physician. Most runners who survive cardiac arrest get immediate CPR from other runners or bystanders. If you'd like to be certified in CPR, find a class near you via the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.

Taking the time to go through a quick course could be enough to save a life.”

As a runner, “you can do a lot of good by knowing what to do and keeping your head,” Shore said.

Shore doesn’t want to be one of the few who’s capable of helping out.

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