Nothing earth shattering, but I found it interesting because his relief technique is the same as mine. Also it says that resting the limbs on the iliac crests widens the thoracic outlet space, which is not something I knew. I was doing it solely to take weight off the shoulder girdle.

He's lucky he only gets symptoms when completing a long run!

An unusual case of thoracic outlet syndrome associated with long distance running

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...v033p00279.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10450487

Selected excerpts:

The numbness would vanish within 10 seconds if the upper limbs were supported either on a rail or his own iliac crests. The symptoms would return immediately if the support for the upper limbs was removed.

...

The patient was diagnosed to be suffering from strenuous exercise induced thoracic outlet syndrome. To our knowledge, it has not previously been reported in the literature. It is an usual case of thoracic outlet syndrome associated with long distance running

...

By supporting the upper limbs on a rail or his iliac crests, the patient widens the thoracic outlet space and also eliminates the gravitational effect of the upper limbs on the brachial plexus. He can then rapidly relieve his symptoms