The Brooklyn Half Marathon turned into a tragedy.
A 30-year-old man collapsed and died past the finish line and 15 other participants were taken to hospital, the New York Post writes.
– The race had to be broken, a police officer told the newspaper.
For the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Brooklyn Half Marathon was held yesterday in New York.
About 22,000 runners took part in the 21-kilometer race, which stretched from the Brooklyn Museum, through Prospect Park to Coney Island.
the problem?
This weekend New York is experiencing one of the worst heat waves ever for the month of May, and thus the race was conducted in extremely challenging conditions.
The temperature rose from about 15 degrees early in the morning when the race started to over 25 when it finished. This is with a humidity of over 80 percent.
The police witnessed several collapses
According to the New York Post, which cites local police authorities, a 30-year-old man is said to have collapsed past the finish line and taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
In addition, dozens of people were taken to hospital, five of them seriously.
– He believes the organizers or the medical staff should have gone in and smashed this race, a police officer, who said he saw four people collapsing in the target area, tells the newspaper.
‘Awful when it happens’
26-year-old John Peterson, who has raced and ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon several times before, attests that this was the toughest and toughest race he’s ever run in New York.
You must realize the limits of your body. Sometimes you want to push yourself to the limit and then you can cross that line. He says it is awful when something like this happens.
The New York road racers, who organized the race, said in a statement that measures were taken taking into account the weather conditions, and that medical staff and volunteers are deployed throughout the race, ready to intervene in an emergency.