Updated

Updated · Fox News · Nov 9

Santa Barbara Police Probe 19 Half-Marathon Hospitalizations as Organizers Cite Heat

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Nov 9

Santa Barbara Police Probe 19 Half-Marathon Hospitalizations as Organizers Cite Heat

Q: What mysterious symptoms caused a hospital to call police on a Santa Barbara half-marathon, despite organizers blaming the 86-degree heat?

The symptoms have not been publicly identified. What officials have confirmed is that about 19 runners arrived at Santa Barbara and Goleta Valley Cottage hospitals with similar but “unusual” symptoms of undetermined cause, which prompted the hospital to alert police. That uncertainty is the key reason police opened an investigation into “suspicious circumstances,” even as race organizers said the cases appeared consistent with heat illness, exhaustion or dehydration during an 86-degree race day. Authorities have repeatedly said no cause has been confirmed and there is no public safety alert at this time. Available reporting indicates medical teams and organizers saw signs typical of endurance events in warm weather, including heat exhaustion and dehydration. But hospital officials said the cluster itself was unexpected enough, and the symptoms similar enough, that they wanted law enforcement involved while they determine whether heat alone explains the illnesses or whether another factor was involved. Rumors online about possible water contamination or drugging have circulated, but police and hospital officials have not confirmed any such claims. As of the latest reports, officials had not released the runners’ specific symptoms or the severity of each case, only that the illnesses were similar and still under investigation.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 9

Nineteen half-marathon participants were treated at Cottage emergency departments after Sunday's race, with several reporting similar unusual symptoms of undetermined cause.
Santa Barbara police opened a "suspicious circumstances" investigation after the hospital alerted them, saying the cause has not been confirmed and advising any unwell participants to seek medical care.
Cottage Health said the number of race-linked emergency visits was larger than expected; some runners arrived on their own and others were brought in by ambulance.
Race organizers said they have no reason to believe anything out of the ordinary happened beyond typical heat-related illness or exhaustion during the endurance event.
About 7,500 people took part in the Santa Barbara half-marathon, leaving investigators to determine whether heat or another factor sickened the runners.