Althouse: "... rhabdomyolysis, a rare muscle condition that can be brought on by exertion in which the muscles break down and can poison the body."

November 3, 2026

"... rhabdomyolysis, a rare muscle condition that can be brought on by exertion in which the muscles break down and can poison the body."

"'It’s unfathomable,' [her father] said. 'Perfect health, perfect shape, 24 years old.'"

From "Runner, 24, Dies During Her First Marathon/Rachel Apa collapsed in Central Park. The cause was rhabdomyolysis, a rare muscle condition that can be brought on by exertion, her father said" (NYT).

"Rachel, a product manager for an electrical component company who had just started an M.B.A. program at Charleston Southern University, was running to raise money to fight Parkinson’s disease, which had killed her grandfather. 'My grandfather was one of my role models growing up,' she wrote on LinkedIn. 'He taught me to stay active, push my limits, and embrace challenges.'"

19 comments:

Anne-I-Am said...: I developed rhabdo during a 100-mile run. It's no joke. Unusual for a marathon--I wonder if she had an underlying issue.

May her memory be eternal.; 11/3/26, 6:18 AM
Saint Croix said...: My heart goes out to that family. Always tough to lose a child you love.; 11/3/26, 6:33 AM
Money Manger said...: Phiedippedes taught the lesson.; 11/3/26, 6:35 AM
michaele said...: What a heart breaking story. I have a niece who just finished a 100 mile run and although she trained conscientiously for it, the advice was not to actually push to do the full 100 miles except for the race. I wonder if there is any kind of medical test to find out if your muscles have a vulnerability to this happening?; 11/3/26, 6:49 AM
Terry di Tufo said...: When I have heard about rhabdo it was from training for long distance endurance events and led to hospitalization. But to be able to run 20+ miles of a marathon and have a sudden attack is really strange and apparently extremely rare.; 11/3/26, 6:54 AM
Wilbur said...: Money Manger said...
Phiedippedes taught the lesson.

Your mention of Phiedippedes sent me off on an online mini-journey. I remember first reading of this when I was a small boy.
Apparently the tale of his marathon-length run after the Battle of Marathon is now largely considered to be apocryphal. However he is believed to have run 150 miles from Athens to Sparta before the Battle of Marathon to enlist the aid of the Spartans in the battle.
And apparently horses were rare in ancient Greece due to the difficulty of breeding them in the mountainous terrain.; 11/3/26, 7:13 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/3/26, 7:15 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/3/26, 7:32 AM
Achilles said...: It is rare because people are lazy. Everyone can get this “disease.”

I have hit this “condition.” It happens when you work out too hard and intake too much protein. Your pee gets some purple brown stuff in it.

Dial back the workout a bit.

I don’t know how you can die from this. You can’t keep exercising enough. There is a misunderstanding at a fundamental level somewhere in this story.

This story is bullshit.; 11/3/26, 8:08 AM
Howard said...: What a dumbfuck comment, Achilles.; 11/3/26, 8:15 AM
William said...: Some days you embrace the challenge, and some days the challenge embraces you......Long distance running is a reliable way to feel good. She's an outlier. There's always an outlier. Some people choke to death on chocolate cake.; 11/3/26, 8:22 AM
Biff said...: Rhabdomyolysis also is the most serious side effect of statin drugs. When you hear about people who can't take statins or even die from them, it's usually because of rhabdomyolysis.; 11/3/26, 8:33 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Rhado isn't that rare. It used to happen to Marines during boot camp training before the 70s. Too much exertion, not enough water. Usually went away. First time I've heard an in-shape athlete dying from it.; 11/3/26, 8:43 AM
Lazarus said...: So it's no-go for the 10K road race to find a cure for Rhabdomyolysis?; 11/3/26, 8:51 AM
Sydney said...: As others have mentioned it isn't that rare. My encounters with it have mostly been elderly people who fall at home alone and lay on the floor for over 24 hours before being discovered.; 11/3/26, 8:54 AM
paul said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/3/26, 9:25 AM
Ice Nine said...: >Achilles said...
I don’t know how you can die from this...This story is bullshit.<

It is not bullshit and here's how you can die from this:

Rhabdo can cause a dangerous potassium spike because muscle cells contain a large store of potassium. When there is massive breakdown of skeletal muscle there is massive release of potassium into the bloodstream. Too much potassium disrupts the heart's cells ability to conduct electrical impulses normally.

Severe hyperkalemia (high potassium) can therefore cause dangerous rhythms or cardiac arrest. That is surely what happened to this poor woman. Fortunately, this particular mechanism is very rare.; 11/3/26, 9:27 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: If you get rhando you should go to the ER and not "tough it out". Chances are you'll survive if its not that bad, but if left untreated it can cause damage to your kidneys.; 11/3/26, 9:38 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Go Grok it, and you can see how dangerous it can be.; 11/3/26, 9:39 AM