An initial examination of the body of a 27-year-old Wisconsin man who collapsed and died Sunday after finishing the Little Rock Marathon turned up no apparent cause, according to a spokesman for the Pulaski County coroner's office.
Spokesman Garland Camper said Wednesday the state medical examiner has not found any obvious reason for Adam Nickel's death.
"They're going to have to do microscopic and toxicological analysis," Camper said. the tests could take three to four weeks.
Nickel, who was attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, collapsed at 11:03 a.m. CST after finishing the 26.2-mile race in 3:02:26, an elite time.
"He crossed the finish line, smiled and dropped," said Shirley Thiel of Black Creek, Wis., a friend of his who accompanied him from Madison to Little Rock. "There was no indication that anything like this would ever happen."
Emergency personnel used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to try to revive Nickel until an ambulance arrived with a defibrillator. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead after being taken to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Hospital.
Temperatures during the race ranged from the high 50s at the beginning to the mid-60s by the end of the race, according to the National Weather Service. The race attracted about 9,000 entrants, race officials said in a news release.