The TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca was held yesterday, now in its seventh year. The event offered runs in six categories: the marathon (42.195 km), the half marathon (21.1 km), a 10,000 m run, 10,000 m walking and 10,000 m Nordic walking. A total of 8,368 participants from 54 nations competed, an increase of 14 percent over last year, with 6,126 successfully crossing the finishing lines. There had also been a UNICEF Kids Run over 600 m on Saturday with some 2,000 youngsters participating, aged between 2 and 12.

Miguel Capó Soler from Spain was the male winner in the full marathon for the third time in three years. Alain Wolf from Germany came second and Daniel Skaaning Sandersen from Denmark, third. Amongst the ladies, Sonja Oberem from Germany came first, Birgit Schönherr-Hölscher, also from Germany, came second, and Dorte Dahl from Denmark, third.

The big loser of the day was a German participant, age 49, who sadly collapsed near the halfway mark of the 10,000 m running distance. The male runner died on the spot of a heart attack. It would appear that any involvement in the TUI Marathon had been at the participants’ own risk. Any liability of the organisers for accidents, lost property or, indeed, lost lives was explicitly ruled out from the start. That doesn’t help the poor man or his family, does it?

The photo was borrowed from the Internet. Many thanks go to mallorcazeitung.es and the unknown photographer.

Vielen Dank.