Holy crap! 20 dead and 1 missing in Chinese 100km ultra

your stupid wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

I have plenty of experience both in mountains

Which ones?

Mountains of BS.

DanM wrote:

Boston 2018 could have become this type of situation. 2,500 runners received medical attention. The BAA was lucky that nobody died.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/04/16/marathon-runners-treated-for-injuries-wellesley/JhQbVspqLwJEy4XFKjvULI/story.html

The comparison is interesting, but long-distance alpine races and marathons are two very different beasts. Scrambling up (or down) a mostly deserted alpine trail is entirely different than running on the road with ample aid stations/officials at every mile. I ran Boston in 2018 and never felt in any real danger. I could have dropped out and warmed up at any point, and there was no danger of a missing a footing and falling down a steep slope on sharp rocks, or getting lost. If I had pushed things too far and become delirious from hypothermia, someone would probably have noticed and helped. Heck, I'm in more danger on my late-night training runs (mostly from being hit by a car) than I was during Boston 2018. Most of those who dropped out did so because they were heat acclimatized rather than cold acclimatized and did not think that they had a chance of actually doing well.

Didn't even make the news. They did talk about the the accident in the Alps with the cable car

Sorry if this has already been posted, I looked for a thread about it and couldn't find one. It's completely wild:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/22/china/china-runners-deal-intl-hnk/index.html

There are probably better sources out there.

Highlights from this and other sources, off the top of my head:

-21 out of 172 starters die, including 5 of the top 6.

-The weather was typically in the 80s in past years, was around 60 at the start of the race, dropped to around 40

-Fierce rain, hail, wind combined with the temperature drop led to hypothermic conditions

-The leaders were only 12ish miles into the race at the time the inclement weather started.

-This led to a tough climb with poor footing where most people turned around, but some continued.

There is a letter out there written by one of the finishers (in Chinese) that gives more details.

How many times do we all head out the door with nothing but a tshirt and shorts for a 12 miler in 60 degree weather?

Zhang Xuchen wrote:

your stupid wrote:

Which ones?

Mountains of BS.

The Delaware Mountains.

Ah, found the thread.

Yeah so lots of people are asking how is this possible. The storm was not in the forecast. The temperature was something like 60F and sunny at the start, then it dropped to 40ish with driving wind and rain (and hail) after an hour or two of racing. Everyone reading this would line up in a tshirt and shorts. With aid stations throughout the course I don't think anyone would consider this to be risky. Especially after only 12ish miles of racing.

Seems like a truly rare and extreme weather event. If it were 30F and snowing I think it would have been less dangerous than 40 and raining.

Actually it's a myth that most heat is lost through the head

Zhang Xuchen wrote:

your stupid wrote:

Which ones?

Mountains of BS.

Are you church ladies STILL crying? Pathetic. You're not superior, you're lashing out on the internet, embarrassing yourselves. No lives.

Windchill has to be -17F to even cause frostbite in under 30 minutes. That's not possible above 10F. Maybe you can get rapidly hypothermic at a bit warmer than that, if you are VERY ill-prepared. But in either case, it's pretty absurd to act offended when someone asks how that happened, why so many took that risk. Almost like you're defending whoever screwed up.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Zhang Xuchen wrote:

Mountains of BS.

Are you church ladies STILL crying? Pathetic. You're not superior, you're lashing out on the internet, embarrassing yourselves. No lives.

Windchill has to be -17F to even cause frostbite in under 30 minutes. That's not possible above 10F. Maybe you can get rapidly hypothermic at a bit warmer than that, if you are VERY ill-prepared. But in either case, it's pretty absurd to act offended when someone asks how that happened, why so many took that risk. Almost like you're defending whoever screwed up.

You need to learn to tuck your tail between your legs and walk away.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Windchill has to be -17F to even cause frostbite in under 30 minutes. That's not possible above 10F.

Frostbite and hypothermia are two different things. The same as drowning and suffocation are different. By your logic the only way a person can suffocate is if they fall in a lake.

Hypothermia can hit REALLY fast. Thirty years ago, I was running down an isolated dirt road in Nebraska into a glorious sunset. It was maybe 30 degrees when I started. As the sun set, it started to get a lot colder and a wind came up. I decided to turn around. At that point, I realized that I'd been running with a tailwind and now it was a strong headwind. My top was soaked with sweat and offered little protection. I turned sideways and crabbed into the wind with my arms across my chest, but within a couple of minutes, I couldn't run! I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't run. They just wouldn't move. It was like trying to run in waist-deep water.

I realized this was very serious. There was no way I could keep going the five miles to get back home. I decided to run away from home with the wind at my back to the nearest crossroad and then cut across to the main highway a mile away. Once I turned around, I could manage a slow jog. That last mile took forever. I can STILL remember running for what seemed like forever and looking up and seeing the main highway lights still impossibly far away. I vowed to not look up again. Just keep moving. When I made it to the main road, there was no traffic, but there was a convenience store. The owner gave me coffee and let me use his phone to call my wife.

I only had to cover maybe a mile and a half on a flat road after the weather suddenly changed on me.

Raddison wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Windchill has to be -17F to even cause frostbite in under 30 minutes. That's not possible above 10F.

Frostbite and hypothermia are two different things. The same as drowning and suffocation are different. By your logic the only way a person can suffocate is if they fall in a lake.

Death from frostbite isn't even a thing.

Bad Wigins wrote:

church ladies

😲 it's sooooo roomy up here in your head! Check this out: ECHO ECHo echo ecko eko eko ko koh oh oh oh

your posting lacks respect and is at a detriment to the quality of the board. please stop embarrassing yourself

Bad Wigins wrote:

Zhang Xuchen wrote:

Mountains of BS.

Are you church ladies STILL crying? Pathetic. You're not superior, you're lashing out on the internet, embarrassing yourselves. No lives.

Windchill has to be -17F to even cause frostbite in under 30 minutes. That's not possible above 10F. Maybe you can get rapidly hypothermic at a bit warmer than that, if you are VERY ill-prepared. But in either case, it's pretty absurd to act offended when someone asks how that happened, why so many took that risk. Almost like you're defending whoever screwed up.

You never feel the need to stop embarrassing yourself do you,no matter the thread or topic you're always wrong,jump off a cliff and do the world a favour.

Jin Liang, sadly deceased, despite many years experience, including UTMB in France (Ultra Trail Mont Blanc). Great technician on steep downhills.

Is this one of the 200 tips a runner should know?