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PARADISE, Cache County — A Park City man died Friday after he collapsed during the Ragnar race.
A paramedic and a registered nurse saw Tyler "Ty" Rasch, 46, collapse just before 8:15 a.m. and responded immediately, Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Brian Locke said. Paramedics continued to give emergency treatment as Rasch was rushed to Logan Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Rasch had no known prior medical conditions, Locke said. A medical examiner is working to confirm the cause of death.
"We've had injuries and things like that, probably heat-related issues, but I don't recall any recent memory of someone passing away participating in this race in our county," Locke said. "There are literally thousands of people up here in support of this race. It will go throughout the day as they go out every 20 minutes. … I hope everyone stays safe. It's a very tragic day for this family."
Velvet Rodriguez-Poston, Friend and Family Spokesperson
Ragnar is a long-distance relay race for teams of 12 covering 200 miles in two days and one night. The Ragnar Wasatch Back race began in Logan on Friday morning and ends Saturday at Soldier Hollow.
"A loss like this affects us all at Ragnar, and the prayers and thoughts of (our) staff go out to the Rasch family," said Elise Timothy, a Ragnar spokeswoman. "First responders acted within minutes, and our safety team has remained in touch with the family to aid them in any way we can. We ask that the community join us in respecting the family's privacy at this hard time and include them in their thoughts and prayers."
Rasch was chief information officer at 4Life Research based in Salt Lake City.
"Ty Rasch … was an incredible employee and dear and personal friend," 4Life President and CEO Steve Tew said in a statement. "Most importantly, he was a wonderful husband and father. My deepest regret, sympathy and love go out to his wife, Lisa, and their three children. He will be greatly missed.”
Contributing: Marc Giauque, Ben Lockhart
