Twenty-One Hospitalized With Heat Illness at Ulsan Marathon

Twenty-one runners were taken to hospitals after suffering heat-related illness and other symptoms during a marathon in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Sunday, according to local fire authorities. No serious injuries were reported.

Emergency calls began arriving around 11 a.m. as participants in the 2026 Ulsan Marathon reported dizziness, vomiting, high body temperatures, general weakness, leg cramps and fainting. The Ulsan Fire Department dispatched public ambulances and coordinated with private ambulances to distribute patients among hospitals in the area.

By 2:30 p.m., 15 people had been transported in 119 emergency vehicles and six in private ambulances, bringing the total number sent to hospitals to 21. Fire officials said most of the patients showed signs of heat exhaustion. Five additional people who complained of dizziness or headaches received emergency treatment at the event site and were not included in the hospital transfer count.

The afternoon tally distinguished between runners who required hospital evaluation and those treated at the scene. Authorities described a range of symptoms rather than a single diagnosis, but said the hospitalized group largely consisted of people with heat-exhaustion symptoms. The fire department’s update did not identify any participant as critically injured.

The temperature at Ulsan’s main official weather observation station reached 26.8 degrees Celsius at 11 a.m., around the time the emergency reports began. The relatively warm conditions created an additional physical burden for runners taking part in the large road race.

The event, organized by the Ulsan Athletics Federation, offered half-marathon, 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer courses. About 10,000 people participated across the three distances.

The incident highlights the health risks that can arise when endurance events are held in warm conditions, even outside the peak summer season. Heat exhaustion can involve heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea and weakness, while more severe heat illness may lead to collapse or dangerously elevated body temperature.

Authorities did not report any critical cases as of the afternoon update. The response focused on immediate on-site care and rapid transport of symptomatic runners to multiple local medical facilities, avoiding concentration at a single hospital.

Sunday’s race continued to draw a large field, but the cluster of heat-related cases underscored the importance of monitoring weather conditions, hydration and signs of physical distress during mass-participation sporting events.