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Pacemaker in place, Mount Royal mom to run Philly marathon

Her heart might unexpectedly stop, but her running would not. That's essentially what Brandi Dockett told a cardiologist in October after the 41-year-old personal trainer learned she had a potentially fatal coronary condition, one that shut down her heart for six or seven seconds at a time.

Brandi Dockett receives her marathon bib for the race this Sunday.
Philadelphia Convention Center. November 21, 2014. (Randi Fair/Staff Photographer)
Brandi Dockett receives her marathon bib for the race this Sunday. Philadelphia Convention Center. November 21, 2014. (Randi Fair/Staff Photographer)Read more

Her heart might unexpectedly stop, but her running would not.

That's essentially what Brandi Dockett told a cardiologist in October after the 41-year-old personal trainer learned she had a potentially fatal coronary condition, one that shut down her heart for six or seven seconds at a time.

"It sounds odd," she said this week, "but I said to my cardiologist, 'Look, I have a race. And there's no question but that I'm going to do my race.' "

That race is Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon. And somehow, less than two months after her condition was diagnosed, just 40 days after a pacemaker was implanted, the South Jersey mother of two will compete in the 26.2-mile run she had been preparing for since before the frightening news arrived.

An anticipated 16,000 runners will take part in Sunday's marathon. An additional 14,000 will compete in the half-marathon. And Saturday's Rothman Institute 8K will attract a field of 2,000.

While the men's and women's winners could qualify for the 2016 Olympic marathon trials, Dockett won't be among them. She will do intervals, running four minutes and walking one. And if her time beats five hours, she will be as happy as she is to still be alive.

"It could have turned out to be a tragic situation," Dockett said. "Some people don't wake up from what I had."

The physically fit Mount Royal resident discovered her life-threatening affliction by accident.

She had been running for 16 years but hadn't raced in a marathon since 2000. Dockett decided to enter this year's Philadelphia event but, while training, occasionally felt woozy.

When she subsequently tested positive for Lyme Disease, her doctor also noticed she'd been having heart palpitations and sent her to a cardiologist, Cooper Hospital's Matt Ortman.

Ortman diagnosed her condition as an atrioventricular (AV) block, which means the impulses that control the heartbeat occasionally don't reach the ventricles and the organ shuts down for a period that varies with the condition's severity. A first-degree AV block is manageable. A third-degree, like Dockett's, is dangerous.

"For years, I would occasionally get woozy, never knowing what it was," she said. "The interesting thing is that it would never happen when I was running or exercising, only when I was resting or sleeping."

Because she was so healthy, Ortman decided to forgo - at least initially - the typical solution, a pacemaker installation. And because the problem apparently didn't occur when she ran, she was allowed to continue, though she was hooked up to a monitor relaying information to the cardiologist.

"It's like I was LoJacked," she said.

Early in October, while asleep, the device recorded a heart-stoppage that lasted seven seconds.

"The doctor said that was it," Dockett recalled. "He said this is severe, this is life-threatening. I had either to get a pacemaker or suffer the consequences."

Still, she fought. She hadn't done a marathon in 14 years, had prepared herself thoroughly for this one and was determined to run it.

"No," said Ortman, "you need to get this done now. I assure you you'll be able to run your race."

So on Oct. 12, Dockett ran 20 miles. Two days later, the pacemaker was implanted at Cooper. On Oct. 18, she was running again.

The device already has kicked in to maintain her heartbeat, sometimes, frighteningly enough, when she's been running. Dockett still doesn't know if her condition is inherited or an outgrowth of the Lyme Disease, but the dizzy spells have vanished and she's running as well as ever.

Marathon organizers predict 60,000 fans will line the course, which begins and ends at the Art Museum.

The men's field will be headed by a trio of Ethiopians - Abebe Mekuriya, who won the 2013 event in 2:17.35; last year's runner-up Tesfaye Dube, and Abiyot Endale, who trains in West Chester.

The women's competition is expected to be wide open, with 2009 champion Jutta Merilainen and Canada's Erin Maclean among the favorites.

Dockett's only previous experience with a 26.2-mile race had been the 2000 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington. Now, all these years later, with some technological assistance, she's ready for a second.

"Dr. Ortman said he uses my case as a teaching tool," she said. "He said it's just so unique. It's just a weird, flukish disorder. And I'm really lucky."

@philafitz