{"id":697920,"date":"2026-11-03T18:33:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T18:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=697920"},"modified":"2026-11-03T18:33:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T18:33:46","slug":"runner-24-collapses-just-two-miles-from-nyc-marathon-finish-line-dies-in-central-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=697920","title":{"rendered":"Runner, 24, collapses just two miles from NYC Marathon finish line \u2014 dies in Central Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A 24-year-old marathon runner collapsed and died two miles away from the finish line on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Rachel Apa, who was described as being in \u201cperfect health,\u201d was running in her first marathon after training for months. She attended as part of the Parkinson\u2019s Champions team, honoring her late grandfather, who died in 2022 after battling the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather was my role model growing up. He taught me to stay active, push limits, and embrace challenges, shaping my love for sports and movement,\u201d the woman said at a fundraiser.<\/p>\n

She was the picture of health and physical fitness, having competed as a field hockey player for Bucknell University.<\/p>\n

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Rachel Apa, 24, died after collapsing in Central Park during her first New York City Marathon, about two miles from the finish. She was running in honor of her late grandfather and had trained for months.<\/p>\n

Apa was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she died Sunday night. Her father said she had been in excellent health and that the cause of death was rhabdomyolysis.<\/p>\n

VIA: @nypost<\/p>\n

\u2014 Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s why it\u2019s so surprising that by the 18th mile of the 26.2-mile run, she texted her father, \u201cOw.\u201d At the 19th mile, she texted, \u201cOw, ow.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she entered the 23rd mile, he encouragingly messaged her \u201cFinal stretch,\u201d but the text received so response. She collapsed in Central Park, where a local hospital social worker who had been watching the marathon began immediately providing CPR. She was transported to Mount Sinai but was unfortunately pronounced dead that evening.<\/p>\n

Her cause of death was rhabdomyolysis, which is described by the Cleveland Clinic<\/a> as \u201ca rare muscle injury where your muscles break down. This is a life-threatening condition that can happen after an injury or excessive exercise without rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis dangerous muscle condition can result from overexertion, trauma, medications, or an underlying health condition. Common signs and symptoms of rhabdomyolysis are weak muscles, muscle stiffness, muscle pain and a change in your pee color,\u201d the webpage reads.<\/p>\n

As far as how rare the condition is, only about 26,000 develop it on an annual basis.<\/p>\n

X users reacted to the shocking passing:<\/p>\n

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Long distance running is not good for you. An extensive study showed there was no further health benefits if you slow jogged for 10 minutes every other day. If you want to be healthy, walking and moving throughout the day is optimal.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joyim (@cozibrozi) November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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RIP. Sadly marathon running requires lots of training, i believe progressive training can limit Rhabdo but still Marathon is a big leap to take for anyone, even elite athletes.<\/p>\n

\u2014 BlockbyBlock.hood\"\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\" (@BlockbyBlockAI) November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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May she rest in eternal peace.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Marcie Gaspers (@GGGaspers) November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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So tragic. NYC marathon is such a wonderful memory for me when my son ran.<\/p>\n

Cannot imagine this for this beautiful girl and her families.\"\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc\"\"\u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83e\ude79\"\"\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc\"<\/p>\n

\u2014 DT Cahill (@DTCahill) November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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I always say that running marathons is rigorous on your body and heart. Underlying issues, diet, potential side effects to medications and vaccines can all be root causes for a young person to collapse and die under this type of intensity. That being said. Don\u2019t do it!<\/p>\n

\u2014 JA (@JtotheA81) November 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 24-year-old marathon runner collapsed and died two miles away from the finish line on Sunday. Rachel Apa, who was described as being in \u201cperfect health,\u201d was running in her first marathon after training for months. She attended as part of the Parkinson\u2019s Champions team, honoring her late grandfather, who died in 2022 after battling… Continue reading Runner, 24, collapses just two miles from NYC Marathon finish line \u2014 dies in Central Park<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-697920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=697920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=697920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=697920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=697920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}