Frei wins 100km race around Biel

Konrad Frei won this year's 100km race around the city of Biel Keystone

Switzerland's Konrad Frei has won this year's 100km race through the Swiss city of Biel.

The Swiss athlete, who hails from Hochwald in canton Solothurn, won the race with a time of 6:56.39, nearly eight minutes ahead of his nearest rival, Algeria’s Lahcew Ahansal.

Frei last won the same event back in 1999 and was happy to toast his latest victory.

“I started off a bit too fast, but in the end I was still about to find some energy,” he commented at the end of the race on Saturday.

Marathon event

Morocco’s Kamal Saaidou won this year’s marathon event around Biel.

Saaidou won the race, which culminated in a final sprint finish on Saturday morning, with a time of 2:08.02.

The 38-year-old Moroccan, who improved on his personal best time by a full six minutes, finished 30 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Belgium’s Gino van Geyte, and just under three minutes in front of the Brazilian runner, Alex Januario Mendonca, who came in third.

The best Swiss performance of the event came from Philip Rist, who finished the 42km marathon in fourth place with a time of 2:11.00.

Rist, who hails from canton St Gallen, said he was pleased with his performance in Biel.

“For the first time in my career, I ran instinctively and didn’t need a watch. And what I achieved is simply sensational,” Rist said after the race.

Rist’s fourth-place finish is not only the best of his career but also the second fastest Swiss marathon run on record.

Rist’s Swiss compatriot, Viktor Röthlin, clocked up a Swiss record at the Berlin marathon in 2001 when he finished with a time of 2:10.54.

swissinfo with agencies