A 24-year-old woman from Pennsylvania collapsed near the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Sunday and subsequently died, sending shockwaves through the global running community. Rachel Apa, an industrial-technology product manager and former college field hockey player, had been running to raise funds for Parkinson’s disease in honour of her late grandfather. Her tragic death occurred just over two miles from the finish line, raising critical questions about the physiological dangers of extreme endurance events.
The Incident and Medical Response
Rachel Apa, 24, of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, was approaching the 24-mile mark of the 26.2-mile race when she collapsed, according to the New York Police Department. Her father, Steve Apa, told The New York Times that his daughter had been stricken with rhabdomyolysis—a rare condition in which muscles break down during exertion, poisoning the body. It was her first marathon. New York Road Runners reported that
