In brief

• A 24-year-old runner from Pennsylvania collapsed in Central Park during the New York City Marathon and died hours later in hospital.
• Her father says rhabdomyolysis caused her death.
• She was running her first marathon as part of a Parkinson's disease fundraising campaign.

Collapse in Central Park

Rachel Apa was running her first New York City Marathon when she fell in Central Park, roughly 38.6 kilometres into the race, two miles short of the finish. (24-latka zmarła przed metą maratonu. Ojciec ujawnił przyczynę – Przegląd Sportowy) (Nie żyje 24-latka, ratował ją przechodzień. Tragedia podczas maratonu – RMF24)

Hospital and cause of death

An ambulance took her to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where doctors fought for her life for about six hours before she died. According to her father, rhabdomyolysis was the cause of death, a condition her father said he had been told about by medical staff. (Zmarła w trakcie maratonu. W takcie biegu rozpadły się jej mięśnie i zatruły organizm – Medonet) The condition occurs when extreme physical exertion causes skeletal muscle cells to break down and release their contents into the bloodstream, which can lead to kidney failure and heart rhythm disturbances. Symptoms include muscle pain and weakness.

Race and fundraising

Apa had joined the race as part of a charity campaign raising money for Parkinson's disease research, in memory of her grandfather, who died of the illness in 2022. Her father told reporters she had no history of fitness problems and was in good health. She played university field hockey and had just started a master's programme at Charleston Southern University. (Marathon: 24-Jährige stirbt nach Zusammenbruch in New York – DER SPIEGEL)

Race context

The 50th anniversary edition of the marathon was won by Swede Andreas Almgren, who was making his debut, in 2:06:01, and Kenyan Cheila Chepkirui took the women's title, her second in her career.