The 32-year-old runner who collapsed and died after finishing the Brooklyn Half Marathon was a New York University master’s graduate and a behavioral therapist, The Post has learned.
David Reichman fell in the sweltering heat on the boardwalk near the finish line at Ocean Parkway at Brighton Beach Saturday and was later pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital, cops said.
Reichman was a founder of Field Trip Health, a mental health and psychotherapy company in Kips Bay, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The company, founded in October 2020, says that it is “redefining mental health and well-being through ground-breaking work in psychedelics and psychedelic-enhanced psychotherapy,” according to its LinkedIn page.
He previously worked for two years as a substance use specialist for NYC Health + Hospitals and has a master’s degree from the NYU Silver School of Social Work, according to his profile.
Reichman lived in Flatbush with his girlfriend until moving to Manhattan in March, the super at his Brooklyn building, who would only identify himself as Ozzie, told The Post on Sunday.
A woman answering the door at Reichman’s Flatbush apartment declined to comment.
Police said 15 other runners were hospitalized following Saturday’s race.
The 22,000-runner event, sponsored by New York Road Runners and the NYPD, runs from the Brooklyn Museum, through Prospect Park and to the boardwalk on Coney Island.
The race was run this year for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 lockdown but was run in sweltering heat that had reached 70 degrees and 83% humidity when it began at 9 a.m., Fox Weather reported.
Reichman’s death is the event’s first since a 31-year-old runner collapsed and died in 2014 after crossing the finish line.
The New York City Medical Examiner will determine Reichman’s cause of death.
In a statement released Saturday, New York Road Runners said it had “medical staff placed from start to finish throughout the race course, who are ready to respond immediately to the medical needs of all runners, spectators, volunteers and staff.”
“The health and safety of our runners, volunteers, partners, and staff remain the top priority for NYRR,” the group said. “In coordination and consultation with the city agency partners and weather experts, NYRR was closely monitoring weather conditions leading up to and during the race.”