(Sports Focus) Runner dies during Shenzhen marathon

A male runner, 33, has died while taking part in a marathon event in Shenzhen, a coastal city adjacent to Hongkong, China, organizers announced on Saturday.

   According to the statement from the event organizers, a male runner surnamed Yao collapsed suddenly just 400 meters away from the finish line in the 13.1-mile half marathon race on Saturday.

   "The ambulance medical staff were just across the street and witnessed the falling of Yao, offering him an immediate medical care," said the statement.

   "It's found that Yao's eyes had rolled back, totally unconscious, when the medical came up to give assistance. The ECG monitor indicated the symptom of ventricular fibrillation on the ambulance, so the medical workers carried out an emergency treatment including defibrillation on the way to hospital."

   "The ambulance reached the People's Hospital of Nanshan District in about 15 minutes, but the doctors failed to save Yao's life at last," added the statement.

   It's not the first time for Yao to run marathon. It's learned from Yao's acquaitances, Yao had plenty of experiences in running marathon and he just took part in a local half marathon last month, timing two hours 10 minutes. Yao had a time of two and half hours when the accident happened this time, which seemed not to be quite challenging for him.

   There were four death accidents happening in marathon running last year in China out of a total of around 50 races, the statistics from China track & field association revealed. 

   It's not rare to see marathon running death. In September, a 42-year-old runner died on the last mile at the Great North Run in Newcastle of England.  Endi