Man, 23, dies while running in Brighton Marathon

A 23-year-old runner collapsed and died today after suffering a cardiac arrest during the Brighton Marathon.

The man, who is believed to be from London, was taken to hospital shortly before midday after collapsing at the 16-mile mark of the fourth Brighton Marathon near Grand Avenue in Hove.

Other entrants among the 10,000 runners described the incident as “extremely distressing”, with medical staff administering CPR on the roadside.

He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital but was pronounced dead at around 2.30pm.

Race director Tim Hutchings said: “It’s tremendously sad. At the moment there is rather a sombre mood among the marathon team.” Mr Hutchings added that there had been “rigorous emergency plans” in place.

Many runners report “hitting the wall” between 16 and 20 miles into marathons when the body depletes its stores of glycogen and begins to obtain energy by burning stored body fat.