The Leiden Marathon came to an abrupt and early end on Sunday after at least 25 participants were hospitalized as a result of heat-related conditions.
City mayor Peter van de Velden canceled the race around 3 p.m. amid concerns that the two local hospitals involved, LUMC and Alrijne Ziekenhuis, were unable to cope with the number of admissions.
Current reports show that LUMC had admitted 15 runners, while 10-12 runners were taken to Alrijne Ziekenhuis. A spokesperson from LUMC told local news outlets that they had reached capacity for admission, but the emergency room was still below capacity, while a spokesperson for Alrijne Ziekenhuis said the number of admissions they received was manageable.
By the time the race was halted, most of the 1,750 participants had already crossed the finish line since the race began at 10 a.m. However, those who were still on course were asked to walk to the finish, with the last participant coming in around 4 p.m.
All 6,500 participants from the half-marathon, which began at 11 a.m., completed the race prior to the cancellation; however, those set to take part in the 10K race beginning at 2:30 p.m. were not so fortunate as the entire race was abandoned.
Tjeerd Scheffer, chairman of the organization which puts on the Leiden Marathon stood behind the decision to cancel the races, saying it was the “right decision” given “the situation we found ourselves in.”
Scheffer also admitted it “was the first really hot day” of the year, and many runners became unwell since all their recent training would have been done in lower temperatures.
