Joey Fecci Nashville chef dies 4 hours into St Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running series marathon of natural reasons. Runner was only a few miles short of completing race. Cause of death yet to be released.
A 26 year old man working as a chef has died while running a marathon in Nashville, Tennessee over the weekend.
Joey Fecci, 26, was found unresponsive in the Shelby Park portion of the race, at the 22 mile mark, just a few miles short of the 26 mile finish line with emergency responders performing CPR.
Fecci was then transported to a nearby hospital where he died on Saturday according according to the organizers of the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series.
A passion for cooking
Nashville police said Fecci died due to natural causes and that the runner’s death was not under investigation, according to WSMV.
Joey’s older brother Nick Fecci said that they last saw him alive at mile 18, where they captured a video of him smiling and giving high-fives.
‘We were waiting for him to come around the final stretch when we got the phone call that would destroy our lives forever,’ Nick shared in a statement with WSMV. ‘We will never comprehend how something like this could happen. We will never understand why the brightest light in all of our lives was taken from us so horrifically and inexplicably.’
Nick revealed that his little brother had a passion for cooking from a young age and began making family dinners at 12.
In the aftermath of the runner’s death, Fecci’s family released a statement, stating: ‘It is with unbearable grief and immense sorrow that we share our dear and beloved Joey transitioned to the other side on Saturday April 27th.
‘He was a bright light of inspiration and positivity to everyone that was blessed to cross paths with him. He was a treasured son, brother, boyfriend, and friend to so many. He leaves behind a broken family that loves him so very much.’
Chef whose career was on the ascent dies from mystery health reason during marathon
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series also released a statement offering sympathies to the family and friends of Fecci, pledging to give them support through ‘this very difficult time.’
The marathon organizers didn’t reveal what led up to or caused Fecci’s death, but Nashville police said he was 3 hours forty nine minutes into the race when he was found unresponsive in Shelby Park, News Channel 5 reported.
Fecci worked as a chef at Yolan, an Italian restaurant inside the Joseph Hotel in Nashville, from August 2020 to January 2024. In April 2022, the hotel that houses the Yolan restaurant proudly announced that Fecci had been promoted to Chef de Cuisine.
The announcement stated Fecci beginning his career as a chef restaurant when he was 15 where he had started working as a bus boy at a restaurant in Somers, New York, where he grew up.
He later attended The Culinary Institute of America before working at two Michelin restaurants in New York City and one in Chicago.
The Fecci family said they’d be releasing a ‘more detailed statement’ at a later time, perhaps shedding light on how the 26-year-old died, which is unknown as of now.
A GoFundMe has been created to honor Fecci’s memory and provide scholarship money to an aspiring culinary student.
