24-year-old dies after collapsing during her first New York City Marathon

Rachel Apa, a first-time New York City Marathon runner in “perfect health,” died Sunday two miles short of the finish line. The 24-year-old Pennsylvanian, who played Division I field hockey at Bucknell University until 2023, texted “Ow ow” to her father Steve Apa when she was at mile 19, before collapsing at mile 24, according toThe New York Times. Spectators ran to help Apa at around 1:30 p.m, including two doctors who administered CPR, before she was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Medical Center. Apa was declared dead at around 9:40 p.m, her father told The Times. He said his daughter had suffered a rare muscle condition brought on by exertion known as rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdomyolysis, also referred to as “rhabdo,” occurs when muscles break down and can poison the body.“It’s unfathomable,” Steve Apa said. “Perfect health, perfect shape, 24 years old.”Marathon deaths are rare with about 1 fatality in every 500,000 runners due to cardiac events, Emory School of Medicine research found. While dozens of runners have been treated for rhabdo during the NYC Marathon, according to a 2022 study, there appears to be no data on deaths during marathons from the condition.Rachel Apa, 24, was about to finish her first marathon when she collapsed Sunday afternoon at mile 24 (Bucknell Athletics)The Lewisberry native, who graduated magna cum laude in May 2024, worked as a product manager at TE Connectivity, an electrical component company. She had also begun an M.B.A program at Charleston Southern University and had been training for the marathon for months.She was fundraising for the Parkinson’s Foundation in honor of her grandfather, collecting $7,656.68, well over her $4,000 goal.“My grandfather was one of my role models growing up. He taught me to stay active, push my limits, and embrace challenges. After he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, I watched as it slowly took away the freedom to move that he once loved,” she wrote on LinkedIn earlier this year.A spokesperson for the New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon, said the non-profit was “deeply saddened” by the death.“Our thoughts and sincere sympathies are with the runner’s family, friends, and the entire running community,” the spokesperson told The Times. More than 61,000 people took part in the New York City Marathon 2026, the world’s largest race (Reuters)The Independent’s requests for comment from Steve Apa, the non-profit, the NYPD and Rachel’s employer TE Connectivity were not immediately returned. Apa’s death marks the first tied to the New York City Marathon since 2024. That year, an unidentified 24-year-old man fell to his death after trying to watch the runners from his Brooklyn apartment’s window, according to the New York Daily News. While the risk of dying from cardiac arrest during long-distance running races has decreased by half since the early 2000s, research shows rhabdomyolysis is much more uncommon. About 1 in 500,000 runners die during marathons from cardiac events, according to an Emory School of Medicine study published in 2025.About 26,000 people in the U.S. develop rhabdo each year and runners are at a higher risk, according to the Cleveland Clinic.