Two young runners have tragically died from cardiac arrest after completing half-marathon races in Oregon.
Both young adults collapsed and died shortly after crossing the finish lines.
According to officials, the runners both died suddenly from unexplained cardiac arrest.
On Sunday morning, just a few steps after completing the Eugene Half Marathon, 23-year-old Mateo Cruz collapsed.
Cruz suffered an unexpected cardiac arrest on the track of Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.
Race organizers said he received “immediate medical attention” from medics on an event team and from Eugene Springfield Fire.
However, they were unable to resuscitate the young athlete.
Medics gave Cruz chest compressions, but he didn’t survive.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors confirmed that he had died.
A local outlet, The Register-Guard in Eugene, quoted Cruz’s aunt as saying he had no known heart conditions.
She said the fit and healthy athlete loved running and was looking forward to training for a full marathon next.
Event results showed he finished the 13.1-mile race in just under two hours, clocking an impressive pace of sub-nine-minute miles.
He finished ahead of roughly two-thirds of about 4,500 participants.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Mateo Cruz,” said Becky Radliff, events director.
“This loss hurts us to the core.
“The entire running community who ran alongside Mateo yesterday mourns with his family.”
On April 5, another runner, 19-year-old Oregon State University sophomore Camryn Morris, also died of cardiac arrest after completing the Corvallis Half Marathon.
Moments after crossing the finish line, she “collapsed into the arms of her friends,” according to her obituary.
She was rushed to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis and then Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland.
However, doctors couldn’t save her, said her father, Jeff Morris.
He said his daughter had no known history of heart problems.
The devastated father said doctors haven’t been able to explain why the young athlete’s heart suddenly stopped.
“We asked, ‘How could this happen? What happened?’” Jeff Morris said.
“They couldn’t really give us any information.”
Camryn Morris grew up in the Tri-Cities area of Washington.
She was captain of the Southridge High School varsity tennis team for two years and a valedictorian for the class of 2023.
She was studying environmental engineering and adored the outdoors and hiking.
She’d also trained hard for the Corvallis Half Marathon with multiple runs of more than 10 miles, said her father.
Her friends also reported that she seemed fine throughout the race.
“We were grateful that it didn’t happen on some training run where there was no one around because we felt like at least she got help right away,” Jeff Morris said.
He said his family plans to travel to Corvallis soon to pick out a spot to place a memorial bench along a hiking trail in the McDonald and Dunn forests, a 15-minute drive from OSU’s campus and where his daughter had enjoyed hiking and doing coursework.
A GoFundMe page has raised $6,300, which is more than double the amount needed for the bench.
A March study of the U.S. Race Associated Cardiac Event Registry shows that the risk of suffering cardiac arrest during or after a half marathon or marathon was less than one in 100,000.
A sudden cardiac arrest death is even more unexpected among young, healthy athletes.
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