Blake Joseph Groulx Death: Runner collapses and dies during City of Lakes Half Marathon in Minneapolis

Blake Joseph Groulx, 27, of Minneapolis, died after falling while competing in the City of Lakes Half Marathon around Lakes Harriet and Bde Maka Ska, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Groulx fell along West Bde Maka Ska Parkway just south of W. Lake Street, according to Park Board police records. Two race participants who came to his aid said they saw Groulx “appear to stumble as they ran, then he fell, and hit his head on the curb,” a park police report read.

The examiner’s office has yet to disclose a cause of death.

According to park police:

Two race participants alerted a park police officer stationed at a road closure that a runner had collapsed. The officer left his post and saw three race participants working on the patient. The three were a physician assistant, an emergency room nurse and a doctor.

“At first, the patient had a pulse and was breathing,” the report continued. “Then he stopped breathing and CPR was initiated by the helpers.”

Several other runners identified themselves as emergency room nurses and also stopped to assist.
An ambulance took Groulx to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where he was declared dead.

The 13.1-mile race, which began more than 60 years ago, is sponsored by the nonprofit Run Minnesota. Sarah Ahlers McInerney, Run Minnesota’s executive director, acknowledged that Groulx was hospitalized, but she declined to say anything further.