Man, 27, dies near finish of City to Surf
Abstract
This year, organisers introduced ChampionChip technology to the event, which involves a computer chip being threaded into each each runner’s shoe laces. The chip is then electronically started as the runner goes across the starting line and finishes as they cross the finish. Yesterday’s race was claimed as the biggest chipped race in the world to date.
A 27-YEAR-OLD man died within 200m of the Bondi finish line of the City to Surf fun run in Sydney yesterday.
An ambulance spokeswoman said the man, from Darlinghurst in central Sydney, went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the street. Paramedics and medical teams were unable to revive him and he died at the scene.
The man was the first registered runner to die since 1995, although an unregistered runner died in 2000.
The tragedy occurred about 11am as thousands of runners streamed past.
The death put a dampener on the otherwise successful event, which has become a Sydney institution since it began in 1971, and this year raised about $1million for charity.
A record 70,000 people entered the 14km race, which begins in the CBD and snakes through the eastern suburbs to Bondi Beach.
This year, organisers introduced ChampionChip technology to the event, which involves a computer chip being threaded into each each runner’s shoe laces. The chip is then electronically started as the runner goes across the starting line and finishes as they cross the finish. Yesterday’s race was claimed as the biggest chipped race in the world to date.
An ambulance spokeswoman said that, apart from the death, the only injuries were minor, such as sprained ankles, grazes and mild dehydration.
“In ambulance terms, it was a fairly quiet event,” she said.
Canberra public servant Martin Dent, 29, who ran in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, won the event in a time of 41min 12sec. He was the first Australian since 1997 to win the event.
The Olympics kept top athletes from Africa from making it to Sydney, giving locals a chance.
The fastest woman was a 19-year-old Australian student from the University of Florida, Rebecca Lowe, with a time of 47min 18sec.
Credit: John Stapleton