3 California middle school cross country runners hospitalized with heat-related illnesses

RIVERSIDE — Three middle school runners competing in a cross country meet at the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center near Riverside on Tuesday suffered heat-related complications that required transportation to a local hospital, authorities said.

Paramedics were called to the sheriff’s training grounds, off Davis Avenue and 11th Street, shortly after 4 p.m., according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

The agency said crews discovered five patients who were evaluated for general weakness amid triple-digit temperatures. Three of the patients were transported for further evaluation.

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Woodcrest Christian School, which is near the training center, organized Tuesday’s cross country coed event featuring teams from 43 schools. The school’s head cross country coach, Eric Reynolds, said 1,200 student athletes from middle schools and high schools around Southern California competed. High-schoolers ran a 3-mile race while middle schoolers and junior varsity runners ran 2 miles, Reynolds said.

Reynolds said he advised coaches from the other schools participating in the event to not bring their athletes if they weren’t properly prepared to compete in the heat.

He said a couple of schools — which he did not name — didn’t properly hydrate leading up to the athletic event, which fell on a particularly hot day. The students suffering heat-related illnesses and taken to the hospital were alert and talking when transported to the hospital, Reynolds said. Authorities did not immediately say which school or schools those hospitalized attend.

Temperatures at nearby March Air Reserve Base climbed Tuesday to 102 degrees, National Weather Service data show.

Reynolds said Tuesday’s Cross Country competition was allowed to proceed under the California Interscholastic Federation’s heat illness prevention and heat acclimatization policies.

Those policies are based on measuring heat stress in direct sunlight, which takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover (solar radiation), according to the CIF website.