Ethiopians steal show at Lattelecom Riga Marathon

Haile Bekuma, a distance runner from Ethiopia, won the men's race at the Lattelecom Riga Marathon on Sunday with a new track record of two hours, 12 minutes and 28 seconds, organizers said.

The new Riga Marathon record is also Bekuma's personal best. He improved the previous track record, shown last year by Yu Chiba of Japan, by one minute and 15 seconds.

Latvia's marathon record holder Valerijs Zolnerovics crossed the finish line sixth after two hours, 14 minutes and 39 seconds, just six seconds behind his best time.

Esethu Messerata, also of Ethiopia, was the quickest woman athlete at the Riga Marathon this year. She finished after two hours, 37 minutes and three seconds.

A 25-year-old participant died while participating in the 10-km satellite race, organizers said on the marathon's website, expressing their deepest condolences to the runner's relatives.

Ilze Buksa, a representative of the ambulance service, said the runner became sick and collapsed during the race. Paramedics who had been on standby and rushed to his assistance failed to resuscitate him. Enditem