A 27-year-old man from Tulsa, Okla., collapsed and died while running the Route 66 half-marathon Sunday morning in windy conditions. His name has not been released.
Chris Lieberman, executive director of the Route 66 Marathon - an event that hosted more than 9,000 runners in a marathon, marathon relay, half-marathon, and 5K and one-mile runs during the weekend - said the man went down just after 9:30 a.m. at about the 10-mile mark. "He was immediately helped by a physician, who performed CPR," Lieberman told the Tulsa World. "Other medical people who were participants in the marathon stopped to help, as well. Our staff was on the scene within two to three minutes, and the ambulance arrived within five minutes."
Emergency crews were not able to detect a pulse. "He passed away on the course. It's a tragedy," Lieberman said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family." Route 66 Marathon organizers posted their condolences on the event's website.
Two years ago, 21-year-old Kjell Tovander died while running the Route 66 half-marathon - the only other death in the history of the race, which began in 2005.
In 2009, three runners - ages 26, 36 and 65 - collapsed and died while running the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon, and in 2007, Chad Schieber, a 35-year-old police officer from Midland, Mich., went down during the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon (his first 26.2-mile race) and never recovered.
