Six runners and a race official suffer heart attacks during Beijing Marathon amid 'unhealthy' pollution
Seven heart attacks at international race in Beijing taken to hospital, one having collapsed just 4km from the finish
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 20 September, 2015, 11:00pm
UPDATED : Monday, 21 September, 2015, 5:24am
Mimi Lau in Guangzhou
[email protected]
Six runners and one race official suffered heart attacks during yesterday's Beijing Marathon.
One was a 30-year-old man who suddenly passed out just 4km from the finish line of the 42km race. The Legal Evening News said he had regained consciousness after being rushed to hospital. He was one of six runners and one official to have been taken to hospital after suffering heart attacks, The Beijing Times reported.
At 10am, shortly after the fastest runners were finishing, the USembassy in Beijing recorded an Air Quality Index level of 175. It classes levels between 151-200 as "unhealthy" and advises people to "reduce prolonged or heavy exertion" during such periods.
Some of the runners wore masks as protection.
About 30,000 runners took part in this year's event, with the mass of participants so great it took nearly half an hour for all of them to cross the start line, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Kenyan Mariko Kipchumba, 41, crossed the line in 2 hours 11 minutes to become the first non-Ethiopian athlete to win the event since 2011.
2015 Beijing Marathon gold medalist Mariko Kipchumba (centre) of Kenya, silver medalist Berhanu Tolcha (left) of Ethiopia and broze medalist Wirimai Juwawo of Zimbabwe. Photo: Xinhua
Berhanu Tolcha from Ethiopia came second in 2:11:37, followed by Wirimai Juwawo of Zimbabwe, who finished in 2:14:25.
In the women's competition, Ethiopian runner Betelhem Cherenet took the title in 2:27:31. Abebech Bekele from Ethiopia and Sin Yong-sun from North Korea came second and third.
The Beijing Marathon, which was first held in 1981, is a Gold Label Road Race certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations and recorded by the Association of International Marathons and Road Races.
In last year's event, runners braved chocking smog with the government issuing a blue warning for air pollution. A blue warning means air quality is unsuitable for outdoor activities.
