2 Runners Die in San Jose Half Marathon

This is very sad. Two runners died after the San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon. The scary thing is that I actually witnessed one of them! At about the 10 mile mark, a woman not too far ahead of me collapsed face down on the concrete. I waved my arms and yelled for help and a few spectators rushed to her aid. This morning, I heard on the radio that she, along with another man from Antioch, died. I looked up this woman's results and saw that she was only 4 minutes and 35 seconds ahead of me at the 10 mile mark, so I know it was her.

2 Runners Die in San Jose Half Marathon
Associated Press
10/05/09 7:25 PM PDT

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Two runners competing in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in San Jose have died.

Medical personnel were unsuccessful in trying revive 35-year-old Brandon Whitehurst of Antioch and 34-year-old Rose Lo of South San Francisco during the Sunday event.

Race medical director Dr. Lewis Maharam said the losses were "unfortunate and tragic."

The Santa Clara County Coroner's office said it has not yet determined how the runners died.

Over 10,000 runners participated in the 13.1 mile race through San Jose, where temperatures reached a mild 68 degrees.

Event spokesman Dan Cruz said these were the first deaths since the San Jose race began in 2006.

At a Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia last month a 23-year-old male runner died.