A runner died while on the course of the Brooklyn Half on Saturday morning, New York Police Department and race officials confirmed.
Charles Rogers, 31, was part of the first wave of runners on the course when he “experienced a medical incident” just past the mile 8 mark on Ocean Parkway and 18th Avenue where he collapsed.
It is with sadness and heavy hearts that we confirm the passing of one of today’s race participants,” Rob Simmelkjaer, New York Road Runners CEO said in a statement. “On behalf of the whole running community, we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.”
Emergency personnel immediately treated Rogers at the scene and performed CPR before transporting him to nearby Maimonides Medical Center in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.
Saturday’s race was apparently event was his first registered NYRR race as part of the organization’s Team for Kids fundraising arm, which assists youth programs.
Late Saturday, Rogers wife Sydney confirmed to The New York Post that her husband died during the race.
“Charles put everything he had into everything he did,” she said according to the report. “While he leaves behind a wife and family that already miss him terribly, he loved being competitive and left us being 100% himself.”
The part of the course where Rogers collapsed is a wide area of road that is flat and makes up nearly half of the race. Runners exit Ocean Parkway at the end of the race before finishing on the Coney Island boardwalk.
This year’s event featured 28,437 finishers, according to NYRR.
The race has typically faced rainy conditions or high humidity and heat in the past and Saturday’s incident is the second time in three years that a runner has died during the event.
In 2022, 30-year-old David Reichman died just after crossing the finish line on the boardwalk at the same race. A video feed of the finish line showed Reichman stumbling as he fell over the final timing mat. He was immediately treated at the scene and died due to cardiac arrest.
