A 24-year-old woman running her first marathon died after collapsing in Central Park during the closing miles of Sunday’s New York City Marathon, according to her father.
Rachel Apa, from Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, was about two miles from the finish line when she went down, Steve Apa told the New York Times. She was running with the Parkinson’s Champions team in memory of her late grandfather, who had Parkinson’s disease.
Steve Apa said his daughter had played field hockey in college and was in “perfect health, perfect shape.”
He and Rachel’s mother, Michelle Apa, were in New York to cheer her on. Michelle filmed Rachel smiling at mile 14. By mile 18, Rachel had texted her father “Ow”; a mile later, she sent “Ow, ow.” She seemed to recover and texted “final stretch” at mile 23, but collapsed shortly afterward.
A bystander performed CPR, and race medical staff used a defibrillator before Rachel was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center. Doctors tried to save her, but she died at 9:40 p.m., her father said. He told the Times that Rachel died from rhabdomyolysis, a rare condition in which muscles break down and which can be triggered by intense exercise.
“It’s unfathomable,” Steve Apa said.
Rachel had recently begun an MBA at Charleston Southern University.
New York Road Runners, the organization that puts on the race, said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened by the death of one of our runners following yesterday’s race. Our thoughts and sincere sympathies are with the runner’s family, friends, and the entire running community.”
The organization said the last time a race participant died from a medical incident was in 2024.