23-year-old dies from heat stroke complications at a Pennsylvania half-marathon

A 23-year-old was taken to hospital after collapsing during a half-marathon in Pennsylvania and later died due to heat stroke complications.

John McMordie
John McMordie
The start of the 2016 Perk Up Half-Marathon. Photo via Facebook.

A 23-year-old man was taken to hospital after collapsing during a Pennsylvania half-marathon and later died from heat stroke complications, Lehigh Valley Live reports. John McMordie was taken to a local Salisbury Township hospital on Aug. 21 and died five days later on Friday.

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The report does not specify the name of the half-marathon. However, the only half-marathon road race that was held in the Pennsburg, Pa. area on Aug. 21 was the Perk Up Half-Marathon. The day’s average temperature on Aug. 21 was 25 C with conditions reaching as hot as 30 C.

The report states that McMordie collapsed just before 10 a.m. local time, almost two hours after the race’s start. McMordie collapsed on State St. in Pennsburg, Pa., which runners pass by at approximately the 3.2K (two miles) and 19.3K (12 miles) points on the course.

According to his obituary, McMordie, who was from nearby Perkasie, just north of Philadelphia, attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. studying mechanical engineering. Coroners performed an autopsy on Saturday and said the 23-year-old’s death was accidental.

The Aug. 21 race was held in Buck County, Pa. near Allentown, Pa., the site of the annual Lehigh Valley Marathon, a popular race among Canadians. The Lehigh Valley race is known as the “third fastest marathon” in the United States.

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