Cardiff Half Marathon: Runner who died 'loved sport'

Nicholas Beckley died after the Cardiff Half Marathon

A runner who died after collapsing at the finish line of the Cardiff Half Marathon has been named as 35-year-old Nicholas Beckley.

He had a cardiac arrest on Sunday and "received immediate attention in the medical centre" according to race organisers Run 4 Wales.

Mr Beckley died at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

The organisers said he had run the race twice before and was a regular runner and football player.

Originally from north Devon, Mr Beckley lived in Cardiff.

He worked in Cardiff council's planning department and had recently been appointed as senior planner. The council leader said he was a "rising star".

Mr Beckley's brother, Andrew, described him as "a true gentleman who will be sorely missed and always loved by all".

His brother said Mr Beckley was "a family man" who "loved sport", adding that he had moved to Cardiff for university in 2003.

"Although extremely proud to be from Devon and a country boy at heart, Nick was hugely passionate about Cardiff and saw it as his home," said Mr Beckley's brother.

He added that Mr Beckley was "a big fan" of the half marathon, and was "so pleased to see how it has grown over the last few years".

Mr Beckley also enjoyed travelling with his girlfriend Natalie and the pair "visited many countries together over the past few years", said his brother.

Mr Beckley played for Cardiff Cosmopolitan Football Club, which is part of the South Wales Alliance League.

Its first team manager, James Lovegrove, said Mr Beckley was a "lovely lad".

"He really looked after himself. He was super fit and now he's lost his life in a cruel way," he said.

"He was a road runner. He was the sort of guy who would play football on a Saturday and then run a marathon the following day.

"There was nothing about him that made you think there would be any danger in him running the marathon - he was that fit.

"He was doing something he loved."

Mr Lovegrove said Mr Beckley helped the club win two Cardiff and district premiership titles, and added he was "the best midfield player the club has ever had".

He said the club "can never replace" Mr Beckley, who "lived for the challenge".

Mr Beckley (circled) played for Cardiff Cosmopolitan Football Club

'He will be sorely missed'

Cardiff council leader Huw Thomas said he was "desperately sorry" to hear the news of Mr Beckley's death,

"He was one of our own; a valued friend to his colleagues, and a rising star in the council's planning department," he added.

"He will be sorely missed in County Hall, and I know we all send our deepest condolences to his family and friends."

• Runner dies after Cardiff Half Marathon

Matt Newman, chief executive at Run 4 Wales said: "It's terribly sad news... not just our thoughts but our support is with the family at this really difficult time.

"It was an incident at the finish line, yards away from the primary medical centre so it was an instant response," he told BBC Radio Wales.

Mr Newman added that Run 4 Wales had worked to raise awareness of unknown heart conditions following the deaths of two men at last year's event.

"We've done an incredible amount of work in terms of raising the profile... flagging that anyone that had any symptoms or history in their family or felt unwell in the run up to it that they would go to the doctor, they would get checked out and no-one would come to the start line with any risk to their health.

"We can only reiterate that really, it's cast obviously a big shadow on what was otherwise a very good day for Cardiff.

"We've had 16 years and until last year we hadn't had incidents of this kind. They have happened before in big events, unfortunately it is something that does happen when you get this volume of people running."

Mr Newman encouraged anyone intending to embark on an event like the half marathon to have a health check first.

'An impossible day'

In 2018 Ben McDonald, 25, from Cardiff, and Dean Fletcher, 32, from Exeter, went into cardiac arrest and died after crossing the finishing line at the half marathon within three minutes of each other.

No inquests took place, and a coroner's investigation found the pair died of natural causes.

About 50 of Mr McDonald's friends and family walked the course in his memory this year, wearing yellow t-shirts.

"I think for them, an impossible day but they wanted to walk in his footsteps and follow the course," Mr Newman said.

A record 27,500 runners signed up to take part in the 2019 event.