Tick bite doesn't slow down Tom Louden

      With three Boston Marathons under his belt and a bout of ehrlichiosis behind him, Tom Louden ran his best time in Boston this year, finishing the marathon in 3 hours, 26 minutes and some odd seconds.

      His time was only minutes away from his best finish ever: 3:23 accomplished during one of the nine other marathons he has run. It was during one of those marathons though, that the ehrlichiosis hit.

      Louden was running the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., when fatigue started to set in around mile 18, which Louden said was sooner than normal. Despite having to walk and stop more than usual, Louden's time wasn't too bad.

      "My time was OK, but it was not my best," he said.

      After a marathon, Louden said feeling fatigued for the first couple hours is common, but then it's usually replaced by a great feeling. That wasn't the case last June.

      On the way home from Minnesota, he developed a headache and high temperature. His illness was at first thought to be dehydration, but University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics doctors quickly diagnosed it as ehrlichiosis, a tick-born disease.

      Ehrlichiosis causes flu-like symptoms, including fever, nausea, headache and soreness. Doctors said he had likely been bitten by a deer tick within two weeks of the marathon. However, a simple antibiotic had Louden raring to go again after five weeks.

For the full story, read the May 23, 2008, Fairfield Ledger.