@cmnewz: The New York City Marathon runner who died after collapsing two miles from the finish line had been texting her father during the race. Rachel Apa, 24, from Pennsylvania, was running her first marathon on Sunday. Her family says she died from rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which muscle tissue breaks down rapidly. Her father, Steve Apa, was tracking her progress on the marathon app from home. According to the New York Times, she messaged him “Ow” at the 18-mile mark, then again a mile later. He wrote back “Final stretch” when she reached 23 miles. She didn’t reply. She collapsed in Central Park at the 24-mile point and was pronounced dead late Sunday. “It’s unfathomable,” her father said. A former Division 1 field hockey player at Bucknell University, Apa was running as a charity runner for the Parkinson’s Foundation in honor of her grandfather, who died in 2022. “My grandfather was my role model growing up,” she wrote on her fundraising page, which has exceeded its $4,000 goal.

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Tuesday 03 November 2026 21:26:23 GMT