At least 19 competitors in a Santa Barbara half-marathon had to be hospitalized Sunday, officials said.
About 7,500 competitors took part in the race, sponsored by the popular running shoe brand Hoka and organized by the group Run Local.
More than a dozen competitors had to be taken to hospitals in Santa Barbara and Goleta, according to a statement from Cottage Health.
“We have a larger than expected number of emergency visits that are tracked to participants in this morning’s organized run in [Santa Barbara],” the statement read. “This morning 19 participants arrived at Cottage [emergency departments], a number of them with similar symptoms of undetermined cause. We are working to determine whether this is due to the heat or other factors.”
Santa Barbara police were aware of the incident, according to race organizers, but a department representative did not respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
David Monico, local event director for the half-marathon, said none of the 15 people who were taken to the hospital from the race’s medical tent were seriously injured. He said the parties he knew of were suffering from “heat exhaustion.”
“I hate to use the word normal, because if we get one transport we don’t like it, but for a lot of these endurance events you get transports, especially on these warmer days,” he said.
Monico said it was warmer than normal in Santa Barbara on Sunday. The 13.1-mile course, which included the downtown area, put runners through a number of elevation changes, with a 100-foot climb through the first two miles of the trek, he said.
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