76-year-old Finnish man dead due to heart attack during Bucharest Marathon

A 76-year-old runner from Finland went into cardiorespiratory arrest and later died during the Bucharest Marathon held on Sunday, October 13.

Medical teams from the Bucharest-Ilfov Ambulance Service and the Red Cross, which provided emergency medical assistance, tried to save the runner's life by performing resuscitation. Unsuccessful, they decided to transfer the patient to the Bucharest Emergency Clinical Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to News.ro.

The Capital Police stated that the body would be taken to the National Institute of Legal Medicine (INML) for an autopsy. An investigation is being carried out by the Prosecutor's Office of the Bucharest Tribunal, along with the Homicide Service, to determine the facts and circumstances of the event, according to the police.

The runner, a 76-year-old of Finnish origin, was a participant in the Masters World Marathon Championship, which took place as part of the Bucharest Marathon, according to the Bucharest RUNNING CLUB, the organizer of the Bucharest Marathon.

The Masters World Marathon Championships was dedicated to runners over 35 years old, and had 500 athletes from over 40 countries registered to compete.

The Raiffeisen Bank Bucharest Marathon is one of Romania’s most important running events, now in its 17th edition. Romanian runner Nicolae Alexandru Soare, from CSM Bacău, won the marathon event with a time of 02:20:29. Alexandru Corneschi (CSM Craiova) finished second, with a time of 02:22:42. The podium was completed by Danish runner Faurschou Jesper, who finished with a time of 02:23:05.

In the women's Raiffeisen Bank Marathon (42.197 km), the top three were Sana Achahbar (Morocco) with 02:39:05, also the winner of the Masters World Marathon Championship, Marinela Nineva (Bulgaria) with 02:44:21, and Theodora Vasile (Romania) with 02:46:12.

(Photo source: Bucharest Marathon on Facebook)