Health officials reported on motzei Shabbos 5 Nissan 5773 that 11 runners who collapsed during Friday’s Tel Aviv marathon remained in Ichilov Hospital. The extreme weather conditions, the sweltering 37C (98.6F) degree weather and sharav heat wave were simply too much for some. At least 50 runners were treated by Magen David Adom teams, including about 5 who were intubated and placed on assisted respirations for their condition, profound heat stroke.

One runner, a career IDF officer, 29-year-old Michael Michalovitz died as a result of his severe thermal injuries. The damage to his body was too severe for paramedics to stabilize him shortly after he collapsed. His levaya was held on motzei Shabbos.

On motzei Shabbos, it is reported that the patients who arrived intubated on erev Shabbos were now listed in light-to-moderate condition Baruch Hashem. The others are listed in light condition. A number of other patients are admitted to other city hospitals.

The race was cut down to 10k following Health Ministry weather alerts, calling on organizers to consider postponing the race due to the predicted sharav heat ware. Instead of canceling it, the race was cut short and the full marathon is planned for this Friday, weather permitting that is. A number of trainers who were interviewed explained that a real runner is able to compete in such extreme weather but sadly, some who lack the experience and knowledge of how to train and properly hydrate competed, and for too many, the outcome was disastrous.

One of the runners who successfully completed the race despite the oppressive heat was former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an avid runner, who told reporters, “I trained properly so it was not a problem.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)