I am a 30 year old male who had a ruptured aorta in a car accident 6 years ago. I love to run and have just recently started training via the galloway training program for the chicago marathon. My cardiologist found out about my training for the marathon and said no way. ( he is not a runner) when I do my long runs, I follow the program closely, using a 5/1 run/walk split. I have currently ran 7 miles and feel great. My heart rate during the running portions stays between 70-80% the whole time. Does anyone know if this is dangerous or if it is healthy for me to be running. I have a dacron tube to repair the aorta and I think that is their major concern (long term affects of pressure bouncing back to heart) anyone who has had this surgery or knows someone who has had heart surgery and has run a marathon would be great. Thanks