19 Runners Treated at Santa Barbara Hospitals After Half Marathon; Police Investigating, Organizers Cite Heat

Nineteen runners from Sunday's Santa Barbara Half Marathon landed in emergency rooms. As of Monday, Nov. 9, the Santa Barbara Police Department is investigating, and no cause has been announced.

The race started at 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, on Cabrillo Boulevard and finished on State Street. About 7,500 people took part, according to organizers. The event was organized by Run Local and sponsored by Hoka.

What happened

Emergency crews responded to several points along the course, including State and Cota streets, between 9:40 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., according to Santa Barbara City Fire Department Battalion Chief Cory Cloud.

Cloud said 12 people were taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and three to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. Four more got themselves to hospitals.

Cottage Health spokesperson Cristina Cortez said the system saw "a larger than expected number of emergency visits" tied to the race. "This morning 19 participants arrived at Cottage EDs, a number of them with similar symptoms of undetermined cause," Cortez said. "We are working to determine whether this is due to the heat or other factors."

Neither the hospital nor police have described the symptoms or how sick the patients were. Event director David Monico said none of the 15 people sent to the hospital from the race's medical tent were seriously injured.

The heat explanation

Temperatures in Santa Barbara reached 86 degrees on Sunday. Monico called that warmer than normal for the event and noted the course includes a roughly 100-foot climb in the first two miles.

Monico said the medical tent saw heat exhaustion, ordinary exhaustion and dehydration. "We have no reason to believe that it's anything more than just the heat and exhaustion from the half marathon," he told the Santa Barbara outlet Noozhawk. "Everything from our medical staff and tent spoke to that as well."

He also said transports are routine at endurance events. "Even on some of our cooler days we'll have some transports," Monico said. But he conceded this year ran higher than usual. "It was more than we've had in the past. We also had more runners than we've had in the past as well," he said.

Run Local issued a statement saying it has no reason to believe anything out of the ordinary happened beyond typical heat-related illness.

Runners at the finish line described the conditions. "The heat definitely threw me off a bit," said Claire Hindman. Her fiancé, Christian Noyola, said, "Unfortunately, I was suffering a lot honestly." Another runner, Jessica Metoyer, said she attended last year and did not think it was as hot.

The police investigation

Police Lt. Ethan Ragsdale said investigators are looking into "suspicious circumstances" around multiple reports of participants "seeking medical treatment for unusual symptoms after the event concluded." As of about 6:50 p.m. Sunday, police had not established what made the runners sick.

The police statement is what separates this from a routine heat story. Race officials say their medical team saw nothing unusual. Police are treating the cluster as worth investigating anyway.

Social media filled with theories Sunday. Some Reddit users claimed water at hydration stations was contaminated with drugs. No authority has said that, and no verified evidence shows anyone was deliberately exposed to a substance.

Monico addressed the rumors directly. Tampering "would be a very unusual doing for any race across the country," he told the Santa Barbara News-Press. He said police are "doing their due diligence to see if there's any facts and truth behind it."

What was on the course

Water stations sat about every 1.5 to 2.5 miles. Each carried water and Voli hydration drink in sunset strawberry lemonade flavor, according to the race's description of its aid stations. Energy gels and assorted snacks were available at the finish.

Police have not said whether they are testing any of those products or collecting samples from the course.

What comes next

Police are telling anyone who feels unwell after the race to seek medical care. Runners who developed unusual symptoms afterward, and anyone with information, are asked to contact Sgt. Andre Miller at 805-897-2330.

Cottage Health says it is still working to determine whether heat or some other factor sent 19 people to its emergency departments. Until the hospital or police name a cause, the answer remains open.