(SCMP) — 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.
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Some of the runners wore masks as protection.
