Runner dies two miles from finish line at New York City Marathon

Rachel Apa, a 24-year-old from Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, collapsed during the New York City Marathon on November 1, 2026, just over three kilometers from the finish line. She was participating in her first marathon to raise money for Parkinson's care in honor of her grandfather.

The race covers 42 kilometers and 195 meters. Apa was approaching the 38-kilometer mark when she fell, according to the New York Police Department. Spectator Michaela Nicholas saw Apa pass by and shouted encouragement before watching her collapse about 14 meters farther along the course.

“I just held Rachel's hand and talked to her, and told her she was not alone and that they loved her, and I prayed for her.”

Nicholas, a hospital social worker, held Apa's hand and told her she was not alone while two other spectators performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Event medical staff also used a defibrillator before paramedics arrived and transported Apa to a hospital.

Doctors were unable to save her. The city medical examiner's office announced on Tuesday that it was investigating the cause of death. Apa's father said she had suffered rhabdomyolysis, a rare condition in which muscles break down during exertion and poison the body.

Apa worked as an industrial technology product manager and had played collegiate field hockey. She had set a fundraising goal of $4,000 for the Parkinson's Foundation. Her father described her as being in perfect health and said she had just started a master's program at Charleston Southern University.

Her mother Michelle and two friends traveled to New York to cheer for her, while her father Steve followed her progress through a marathon tracking app from their home in Pennsylvania. Around Mile 18, Apa texted her father that she was in pain, urging him to tell her to take it easy.