This is horrible. My wife told me about this, this morning. Here's another article from the guardian;

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/runners-dead-extreme-weather-hits-mountain-running-race-gansu-china

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Usually don't think of an ultramarathon as a possible mass death event. If you are too hot you can just stop. Too cold not enough clothes different story.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Terrifying & heartbreaking. Some top runners among the deceased so I'm guessing most if not all were very fast, experienced runners. My heart goes out to their families & friends.

More info on irunfar.
https://www.irunfar.com/...tramarathon-in-china

Holy sh*t.
That's awful.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Very sad. The only trail ultra I've done, which is held at the end of May in the Alps, requires all athletes to carry a waterproof and breathable jacket and a survival blanket.

I've been running and cycling outside year-round in Ohio for 40 years but the closest I've come to what these runners encountered was doing a trail marathon last month in Georgia. Temp at the start was in the high 50s. We ran up to 4000 feet in a steady rain with some wind. I was wearing a short sleeve tech shirt, arm warmers and a windproof, but not waterproof, jacket. I was wearing a stocking cap and gloves. Near the top, about 3 hours into the race, I start shivering like I've never experienced. I remained lucid and didn't lose coordination on the wet, rocky trail so even though I seriously considered quitting at an aid station, I decided to continue on the course down the mountain because I assumed I would warm up when I reached a section more protected from the wind. That worked. I didn't carry a waterproof jacket because I was worried about overheating.

I do agree... Cold is almost inevitable if someone do not have proper clothing. My parents(both are retired army veterans..) always told me that I take extra clothes whenever I go outside. Their logic was this: "If you feel hot then you can take clothes off but in the case of cold, there's no way to avoid it."

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Stay home, stay healthy.

Longer fell races in the UK usually require a minimum of a warm hat, gloves, a taped-seams waterproof with a built in hood, and taped seam waterproof trousers, a map, compass and emergency food, as a minimum.

Pete bland explains the minimum well here...
https://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/...uirements_d01336.htm

Quite relevant where it says 'can be a real life saver' about taped waterproofs.

Some races check you've not scoffed the emergency food when you've finished- as otherwise it obviously wasn't emergency food ! And that's a DQ for you if it wasn't because of a real emergency.

For the Xtri I did you also had to have a further spare warm top as well as the above.

And for another tri I have coming up that goes into the mountains for the run, an emergency survival bivvy bag too (not just a tin foil blanket as they're feckall good when it's blowing 50mph). And 1st aid kit.

This is insane.

I can’t imagine the despair as you realize you are going to freeze to death.

It just makes me sick inside to think of this happening.

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

Most longer trail runs here require this as a minimum too. One event we organized a 50km mountain run was 30C one year with one person being choppered our for hyperthermia. The next year at the same time of the month one person was assisted off with hypothermia. All gear was checked at registration and at least once on the course. Too many entrants do not take requirements seriously.

I have no idea what the gear requirements were for this event but it does look like entrants might not have been adequately prepared. Tragic and very sad for all involved.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

This is what I was thinking. I did a 100km xc ski race on the middle of nowhere in northern Quebec once. There were checkpoints every 8-12km and in between checkpoints literally no more than 5 min would go by that you had a race support snowmobile go by. In a way it's easier to keep tabs of skiers than during a rugged trail run when maybe the only way is get there on foot to help the stranded.

There's a race in NZ that is held in 'Summer' but as it's an alpine run, starting at one ski field and finishing at another, the altitude means that the weather can change fast. I'm ex northern UK and so have a habit of carrying too much gear after spending most weekends hiking / camping in the peak district or hills of the lakes. But a few years back the weather forecast was for some grim weather, and it was - 140kph wind and -4 windchill. Whilst thankfully no-one got into trouble on the course, and everyone had to carry the taped jackets, proper bivvy bag, long sleeved thermal, a very high proportion of people arrived at the finish not wearing those as they didn't want to lose time putting them on. Even when advised/ told by the marshals.

And so unbelievably, the next year the organiser had to change the rules to make it clear that it was a DQ offence not to put kit on as requested be marshals.

I've crewed for events like this, and I do know that athletes under physical stress stop thinking rationally and do rely on people telling them what to do. And that's why experienced crew are vital for longer distance events of any sort.

I did that race this year. In the middle of summer, but almost snowing at the 5.30am start time. Had every piece of mandatory clothing on to start (two shirts, jacket, hat, gloves, pants). Kept all of that on for at least the first two hours. Gradually took the extra gear off during the event and at the finish line it was bright sunshine. In alpine environments especially, you have to be prepared for anything.

I am about 400km north of where the race took place. On Friday here it reached 31C during the day. On Saturday the winds picked up, overnight it dropped to 2C with 70+km/hr winds. The weather would have been much worse in the mountains.

The organisers of the race have been jailed.
Organisers of deadly 2021 China ultramarathon sentenced to jail - ABC News