MIDLAND, Mich., Nov. 11 (AP) —Dennis Rainear says he is lucky to be alive after finishing a marathon race with a .22‐caliber bullet lodged in his] head.

The 26‐yearold runner was shot at about the 10‐mile point in the 26‐mile Grand Valley Marathon in Allendale, Mich., on Nov. 4. It is not known where the bullet, which flattened against his skull, came from.

What disturbs Mr. Rainear most, he said, is that the shot probably kept him from finishing the race in three hours and thus qualifying for the Boston Marathon. His time was three hours, nine minutes.

“It just about knocked me off my feet,” he said of the shot. “I knew I'd really been clobbered, but I didn't know what hit me. By the impact, I assumed it was an object about the size of a brick.”