Police investigate as nearly 30 Santa Barbara Half Marathon runners fall ill with ‘unusual symptoms’ | California

Police in Southern California are investigating the circumstances that led to the hospitalization of nearly 30 runners who participated in Sunday’s Santa Barbara Half.

Santa Barbara police said in a statement to The Associated Press that they began an investigation after receiving reports from Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital of several half-marathon participants seeking medical treatment for “unusual symptoms.”

Cottage Health said in a statement that it had “a higher than expected number of emergency room visits… a number of them presenting with similar symptoms of undetermined cause.”

Race organizers say they believe any illness is attributable to heat or dehydration. On race day, the high temperature was 88F (31.1C), an unusually high temperature for this time of year.

Neither the hospital nor police have detailed the symptoms, beyond calling them unusual. Cottage Health said Monday that 27 participants showed up at emergency rooms in Santa Barbara and Goleta, a small town about 10 miles west.

More than 4,640 people participated in the half marathon, which spanned approximately 13 miles, according to the Santa Barbara Half Marathon website.

Of those who were transported to hospital or arrived there on their own, 24 patients had been treated and released as of Monday morning. The other three were in stable condition, the company told The Associated Press.

Event director David Monica said organizers transported 15 people from the medical tent to local hospitals. He said the event’s medical team treated many runners for dehydration and overheating, both on the course and at the finish.

Half marathon event director David Monico told the Guardian that they had “no additional information to suggest that the problems experienced by some participants were caused by anything other than exercise-related symptoms during the endurance event.”