Autopsy ordered in Montreal marathon death

The Quebec coroner's office will conduct an autopsy to determine what exactly caused the death of a man in his early thirties in Montreal's half-marathon Sunday.

Montreal resident Jean-Francis Presseau, 32, is believed to have gone into cardiac arrest about one kilometre from the finish line.

He collapsed and wastreated immediately at the scene.

"It was so quick, you know," said marathon CEO Bernard Arsenault. "All ambulances are at the arrival, so they were there very, very very fast."

Arsenault said he doesn't believe organizers could have done anything to prevent Presseau's death.

Presseau was on pace to finish the 21-kilometre race in 1:30, according to his last recorded split time on the course, taken about five kilometres from the finish line.

Sunday's race was at least his third half marathon in the past 13 months.

At least 15 runners were hospitalized Sunday, with two needing treatment for possible adverse cardiac events.

A Montreal cardiologist said it is rare for a man of that age to die from cardiac arrest, but underlying conditions could have triggered an attack.

"Even in young people who have no risk factors, no symptoms of coronary disease, the first manifestation of a particular condition could be sudden cardiac death," said Dr. Bruno Benzaquen, a Montreal cardiologist who was on duty at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital during the marathon.

Benzaquen said he saw two other runnersa 27-year-old woman and a 35-year-old manwho both collapsed at or near the end of the race.

He said he believes the most probable cause was overexertion or dehydration.

But in both cases the runners are to be evaluated further to see if they suffered any heart damage that could lead to another adverse event.