Woman to run on memories

For all the sadness, all the mourning, all the heartbreak over that which once was -- and that which would never be -- Katie Dargatz focused on one simple phrase:

Live life abundantly.

She adapted it from a biblical passage: John 10:10. "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

The Bible that Dargatz shared with boyfriend Eric Reitman was bookmarked on that passage a year ago this week. Reitman, 3½ weeks shy of his 33rd birthday on New Year's Day, surely had lived life abundantly to that point.

Reitman graduated from Harvard, earned a law degree from Virginia Tech and had traveled the world over, hitting 30 countries.

"He was in Dubai on 9/11," Dargatz said. "He just lived the most fascinating life."

Another fascinating chapter was to unfurl on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 2009. After months of preparation, Reitman would run the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon's half-marathon event. And Dargatz, not nearly as prepared but jokingly noting she was "guilt-tripped" into running the race, would join him.

It was the beginning of the last 48 hours she would have with Reitman -- just a day after the two had shopped for an engagement ring.

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Because of knee troubles, Reitman couldn't run a 9-minute mile. But he could string together 10-minute miles with stunning consistency.

"He had what he called his happy place -- 10-minute miles," said Dargatz, a teacher at Faith Lutheran Junior/Senior High School.

Dargatz, 26, has cross-country running in her background but was not nearly as certain of what pace she could keep for the 13.1-mile race. So, based on projected time, Reitman started in a corral well ahead of her in the field of 27,500 runners.

Reitman had no trouble keeping his expected pace throughout the race. But shockingly, he collapsed from a heart attack just before the finish. Medics arrived, whisking him from the scene and loading him into an ambulance bound for Spring Valley Hospital -- tripping his shoelace computer chip in the process as they went past the finish line. The time: 2 hours, 13 minutes, 45 seconds -- 10 minutes, 13 seconds per mile.

Dargatz was another 25 minutes back in clock time, finishing in 2:48:10. But in real time, 45 minutes had passed, because of the built-in delays for releasing each corral.

"He told me he'd wait for me at the finish," she said. "I got through, and he wasn't there. I didn't know if he'd gone off to the bathroom or gone to get the car, so when I got there, I wasn't super concerned."

After nearly an hour, and going back to Reitman's car, worry began to set in.

"Eric is reliable," said Dargatz, who was good friends with Reitman for two years before they dated for nine months. "It was the first time I was genuinely mad at him. I'm thinking, 'What's going on? You said you'd wait for me.' And I was exhausted. At that point, I'm not thinking coherently."

Then she noticed she had a voice mail on her cell phone. It was from the marathon's head medic, telling her Reitman had been hospitalized.

Dargatz raced to the hospital and finally got some good news. The doctors had everything under control, and Reitman was stable, conscious and coherent.

But the doctors couldn't predict what happened at 11:30 that evening -- any more than they could predict that a perfectly healthy man would have a heart attack 15 hours earlier. A blood clot traveled to Reitman's brain, requiring emergency surgery. It wasn't enough, though, and by 5 a.m. Monday morning, it was clear he wouldn't make it.

"I was with him when the blood clot happened, and the doctors feel certain it happened quickly and he felt no pain," Dargatz said.

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One might expect Dargatz to feel nothing but pain. Yet for all she endured in the final 48 hours of Reitman's life, and all she has gone through in the 12 months since, all she has now is a bubbling-over exuberance over all she got from Reitman. Even in that 12 hours or so between her arriving at the hospital and Reitman suffering the blood clot.

"It was a godsend that everything happened there at the finish line," she said, noting that Reitman had immediate access to medical care that he might not have had on other parts of the course -- and surely wouldn't have had on any of his 10-mile training runs.

"I was in so much shock, but I'm glad for those 12 hours because I have that peace of mind that Eric was in a good place. He called his sister and was singing to her. He was trying to make her laugh.

"He had a black eye from falling on the pavement, and he said, 'Let me see it.' So we took a picture, and he made a funny face for it. I got multiple hours that I would not have had. He got to talk to his parents and sister for what we didn't realize then was the final time."

After suffering the blood clot, he was kept on life support until Tuesday morning, Dec. 9, while organ donation issues were sorted out. And when Reitman died, Dargatz had no interest in playing any blame games. Rather, she had nothing but praise -- for the medics, the doctors and Competitor Group, which owns and operates the Rock 'n' Roll races.

"I can say with confidence that Competitor Group did everything they could, and beyond, to support us in that difficult time," Dargatz said, specifically noting Tracy Sundlun, the senior vice president of events. "He said if there was anything he could do, please don't hesitate to call."

Dargatz took him up on that offer immediately. Photos of runners were taken throughout the race and placed on the event's website; Dargatz understandably wanted Reitman's photos removed, which they were.

But a week later, she requested the photos from Sundlun and got a pleasant surprise.

"Eric looked fine, healthy, he looked like he was enjoying himself. He was living in the moment," she said. "He loved Las Vegas, and consciously decided to move here in 2006. The reason he was running this race was that it was (almost all) on the Strip for the first time, and he wanted to be a part of that. And I have no doubt he had a great time and ran the best race possible."

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Through several months of emotional ups and downs, the question Dargatz continually pondered was whether she would run the Rock 'n' Roll race this year. By July, the answer was a resounding "yes." She will be at the start line at 7 a.m. Sunday, eager to conquer another 13.1 miles.

"Eric ran his race, and he ran it well. He's on the finish line of heaven and is a happy camper there," she said with a smile. "I'm running to celebrate Eric, to glorify God and to have that confidence that my life is going to keep on going. Only good things are ahead."

She will have Reitman's iPod Shuffle with her, playing the same music he listened to as he pushed through last year's race.

She and a few close friends will don T-shirts that read, "Live Life Abundantly" on the front and "Eric Reitman Memorial Team" on the back.

"At the start line last year, he kissed me goodbye and said, 'Have fun.' That's what I did, and I know he did, too," she said, her eyes finally welling a bit, though her smile remained.

"I don't know how I'll be this Sunday. I'm sure there'll be tears, and it'll be emotional. But it's gonna be fun."

Contact reporter Patrick Everson at peverson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0353.