Hyderabad: Techie dies minutes after completing 42-km marathon, heart attack suspected

New Delhi: A 36-year-old man, Kommineni Gopi, collapsed and died soon after completing a 42-kilometre marathon on Sunday. The IBM Software engineer managed to complete the full marathon held at the Gachibowli Stadium. But soon after a moment of celebration turned into tragedy.

The resident of Alkapur Colony in Manikonda of Cyberabad, took part in the 8th edition of Hyderabad Hi-Tech Full Marathon. He successfully completed the run and even collected his finisher’s medal from the organisers. After taking the medal, he was walking towards the breakfast area, when he suddenly collapsed, reported NDTV.

The event organisers rushed to him and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Within minutes, he was moved to a nearby private hospital. However, despite their best efforts, the doctors failed to resuscitate him. He was declared dead at 8:45 am.

Gachibowli police said that preliminary investigations suggest that Gopi suffered a cardiac arrest. A post mortem examination is however being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

His family and friends said that Gopi was not just a software engineer, but also a fitness enthusiast. He had a penchant for completing marathons and took such runs as challenges they said. They described his death, right after collecting his medal and certificate for completing the 42.2 kilometre run as heartbreaking.

The man hailed from Ravinuthala village in the Khammam district of Telangana. He had settled in Telangana with his family. He is survived by his wife and a 3-year-old child.

The death of Gopi sent shockwaves among his family, friends and also other fitness enthusiasts and runners. It also raised concerns regarding preparedness for medical emergencies, emergency response and post-race monitoring at such fitness events.