Cottage Health: 27 participants came to emergency rooms; three remain stable

Santa Barbara police opened an investigation into the circumstances that led to the hospitalization of nearly 30 runners who participated in Sunday’s Santa Barbara Half. The department said it opened the inquiry after receiving reports from Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital about multiple participants seeking medical treatment for “unusual symptoms.” Cottage Health said 27 participants came to emergency rooms in Santa Barbara and Goleta, and a number had similar symptoms of undetermined cause. Of those who were either taken to the hospital or arrived there on their own, 24 had been treated and discharged as of Monday morning, and three others were in stable condition, the company told The Associated Press.

The visits were larger than expected. Cottage Health said it had a “larger than expected number of emergency visits … a number of them with similar symptoms of undetermined cause.” On Monday, the hospital system said 27 participants came to emergency rooms in Santa Barbara and Goleta, a small city about 10 miles west, and a number had similar symptoms of undetermined cause.

Santa Barbara police said they opened the inquiry after receiving reports from Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital about multiple half-marathon participants seeking medical treatment for “unusual symptoms.” The inquiry covers the circumstances that led to the runners’ hospitalizations. Neither the police nor the hospital detailed the symptoms beyond calling them unusual, and the hospital described the cause as undetermined.

The Guardian characterized the hospitalized group as nearly 30 runners, while Cottage Health’s Monday count was 27 participants who came to emergency rooms.

Of those who were either taken to the hospital or arrived there on their own, 24 had been treated and discharged as of Monday morning. The three others were in stable condition, Cottage Health told The Associated Press.

The Santa Barbara Half spanned about 13 miles, and more than 4,640 people competed, according to the Santa Barbara Half Marathon website. The race was held amid unusually high November temperatures, with the high on the day of the race reaching 88F (31.1C), an unusually high temperature for the time of year.

Race organizers said they believed any illness was attributable to heat or dehydration. Event director David Monico said the event’s medical team treated numerous runners for dehydration and overheating, both on the course and at the finish line.

Monico also said organizers transported 15 people from the medical tent to local hospitals.

Monico told The Guardian that organizers had “no additional information to suggest that the issues some of the participants experienced were caused by anything other than endurance event exertion-related symptoms.”

The information available Monday did not identify a confirmed cause. Cottage Health described a number of the cases as symptoms of undetermined cause, while organizers cited heat, dehydration and exertion.