NC Sen. Thom Tillis says, “I’m doing well” after collapsing during DC road race | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Sen. Thom Tillis said he’s doing well after collapsing during a Washington, D.C., race on Wednesday morning.

Tillis, a 56-year-old North Carolina Republican, was about two miles into a three-mile race in Anacostia Park when he collapsed and was helped at the scene by bystanders.

About an hour later, Tillis announced in a tweet from his hospital bed that he was fine.

“I’m doing well,” Tillis said in the tweet. “Looking forward to getting back to work. Thanks for all of your prayers and well-wishes.”

He was taken in an ambulance after first seeming unconscious.

“Hey everybody, I’m fine, just running about two and a half miles in and got overheated,” Tillis said in a video. “No CPR, no special measures, just checking me out. See you back on the Hill.”

Wednesday morning was unseasonably warm in Washington. Temperatures were expected to exceed 90 degrees by the afternoon.

Tillis was competing in the American Council of Life Insurers Capital Challenge 3 Mile Team Race. According to the race website, the Capital Challenge “attracts scores of members of Congress, high-ranking political appointees, Generals, Admirals, television correspondents, print and web reporters, Federal Judges and other Washington VIPs.”

Tillis posted a photo to his Twitter account just before 8 a.m. showing him smiling and standing with members of his team ahead of the race’s start.

Jeff Darman, director of the ACLI Capital Challenge said later that Tillis was responsive and taken to George Washington University Hospital. Darman said he didn’t know of the senator’s condition after being taken away by the paramedics.

“He just had a seizure, is what the medical people told me, but when he went down, he did not bang his head,” Darman said. “He was talking ... and in good shape, they said. They just took precaution and sent him to the hospital.”

The annual three-mile race attracts a slew of lawmakers every year.

Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and John Cornyn, R-Texas all served as team captains for the race according to Roll Call, along with Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., Susan A. Davis, D-Calif., Tom Reed, R-N.Y., Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., Tom Graves, R-Ga., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Tim Walz, D-Minn., Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill.

The ACLI Capital Challenge raises money for the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, which pairs guide dogs with people who have disabilities.

Tillis won election to the Senate in 2014 after serving as speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. He is up for reelection in 2020.

William Douglas contributed to this report.