Marathon Organizers Say Doctor Was Helping Orinda Runner Within Seconds Sunday

Organizers of the San Francisco half marathon where Peter Hass, 36, of Orinda collapsed and died Sunday disputed claims by fire department officials that no trained personnel were on hand to assist the stricken man for 22 critical minutes.

In a statement released by event coordinators RhodyCo Productions Wednesday, company officials said they were "surprised" by a fire department official's claims about the lack of trained response.

"We are very surprised that the SF Fire Department is making statements about this tragic incident without having done any review with us," the statement read. "Our review confirms that a medical doctor crossed the finish line 13 seconds after Peter Hass collapsed. A RhodyCo supervisor was at the scene within 60 seconds."

According to RhodyCo, the supervisor confirmed that a physician was performing CPR, called 911, and began to back the crowd up to make way for emergency personnel.

The company's position was in stark contrast to that of three off-duty firefighters and others who attempted to help Hass when he collapsed, and who said that it took 22 minutes for a city ambulance crew to reach the scene.

RhodyCo officials acknowledged that the private ambulance hired by event coordinators to care for runners in trouble had been called away, but said that two medical tents staffed by qualified medical personnel were in plain sight and available near the finish line.

Hass was pronounced dead near 47th Avenue and John F. Kennedy
Drive at about 10:15 a.m. Sunday after collapsing near the 13.1-mile mark of the
race, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. City officials said Wednesday that an autopsy was performed, but the cause of death won't be determined until further testing is completed by the medical examiner's office.