Man dies of heart attack at Brussels 20km

A 53-year old man died after suffering a heart attack during the 34th edition of the Brussels 20km yesterday, Red Cross  spokeswoman Nancy Ferroni told Belga. The man fell to the ground as he ran and, despite every effort to revive him, was pronounced dead on arrival at Saint-Luc hospital. The Red Cross, which had aid stations every two kilometres, intervened 318 times during the event – a significantly lower figure than the 400 to 700 interventions on average in previous years, due to the cool weather. Six people were evacuated, including the man who eventually died.  Some 430 Red Cross rescuers were mobilised for the race, which is the biggest event of the year in which it operates.

Kenya’s Peter Wanshiru won the event with a time of 59’21”, ahead of his compatriot Milton Kiplagat Rotich (59’34”) and Burundian Onesphore Nkunzimana 1h00’ 53”. The first Belgian is Abdelhadi El Hashimi 1h01’ 20”, who finished fifth. Among  women, Catherine Lallemand won for the fourth time, with a time of 1h13’06”. A record 37,000 participants took part, including heir to the throne Prince Philippe, and there was a total 122 nationalities on the starting line.