24-year-old runner dies after collapsing two miles from NYC Marathon finish line

Rachel Apa, 24, collapsed in Central Park on November 1 while running her first New York City Marathon, about two miles from the finish. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and died that evening; her father, Steve Apa, said she had rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle tissue that can damage vital organs. A former Bucknell University field hockey player, she was running with the Parkinson’s Foundation Champions programme in memory of her grandfather. Doctors and a hospital social worker tried to revive her, and the marathon organizers extended condolences to her family and the running community.