FIRST-TIME NYC MARATHON RUNNER, 24, DIES NEAR THE FINISH
Rachel Apa, 24, was running her first New York City Marathon for the Parkinson’s Champions team in honor of her late grandfather when she collapsed in Central Park about two miles from the finish line on November 1, 2026. She was taken to Mount Sinai and died that night, and her father, Steve Apa, said the cause was rhabdomyolysis, a condition where muscles break down.
Apa, from Pennsylvania, had played field hockey at Bucknell University and had trained for months. Her father told The New York Times she was in “perfect health, perfect shape,” the New York Post reported.
She was raising money in memory of her grandfather, who died in 2022 after battling Parkinson’s disease. “My 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,” she wrote in a fundraiser.
Her mother, Michelle Apa, was in the city supporting her and recorded a video of a beaming Rachel at mile 14. Steve Apa followed along on the marathon app and got a worrying text from his daughter at mile 18: “Ow.” At mile 19, while he was cheering her on, she wrote “Ow, Ow.”
He texted “Final stretch” when she reached mile 23. She never replied.
Michelle Apa headed to the park after seeing that her daughter’s dot on the tracking app had stopped moving. By then, spectators had already rushed in. Michaela Nicholas, a hospital social worker, ran over with her fiancée, and CPR was started at the scene.
Nicholas told the New York Daily News she could not find a pulse. She said she held Rachel’s hand and told her she was not alone. Earlier in the race, Nicholas had called out to her: “Let’s go, Rachel, you got this!”
According to ABC7 Chicago, New York Road Runners said its medical staff took over from the bystander, continued CPR and used a defibrillator. Apa was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai. Her father said doctors worked for several hours to save her before she was pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m. He called her death “unfathomable.”
The Daily News reported that the city Medical Examiner’s initial autopsy was inconclusive and that further testing was needed. The Post, citing the Cleveland Clinic, said around 26,000 people in the US develop rhabdomyolysis each year.
About 60,000 runners started Sunday’s race, and 61,146 finished, with New York Road Runners saying it was the largest marathon ever for the third year in a row. The Post said the last death at the race before Apa’s was in 2024.
In a statement reported by NBC New York, New York Road Runners said: “We are deeply saddened by Rachel’s passing following running in Sunday’s race. Our thoughts and sincere sympathies are with her family, friends, and the entire running community.”
