Marathon Runner Dies: 47-Year-Old Suffers Heart Attack in Barcelona, Spain
A marathon runner has died of a heart attack in the annual Barcelona Marathon on Sunday.
The deceased man was 47 years old, and medical officials have confirmed that he suffered a heart attack during the race.
The man collapsed on the course and medical personnel quickly transported him to a local hospital, however, he died shortly after arriving.
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The winners of both the men's and women's races were from Ethiopia, with Gezahgne Abrera taking the men's title, and Lemelen Berha winning the women's race.
Abrera won in fast time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, 17 seconds, where as Berha finished in a time of 2:34:39.
The Zurich Barcelona Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain each year in March.
The race started as the Catalunya Marathon back in 1978, but the name was changed to the current one in 2005.
Kenyan Jackson Kipkoech Kotut won the 2010 race in a time of 2:07:30 hours. This was a course record and also the fastest marathon ever run in Spain. Over 10,000 participants took part in the event that year.
The route starts and finishes at Plaça d'Espanya, at the foot of Montjuïc, in the Sants-Montjuïc district. It passes Camp Nou, back to Plaça d'Espanya, past Sagrada Família, near the beach in northeast, around the old city, back to the shore and back to Plaça d'Espanya. It has many straight parts separated by sharp street corners. The route feels flat, but looks more hilly on a height profile diagram. It has some long slow inclines, notably around 25-27 km and 39-41 km.
