Baiyin China Ultra Marathon Trajedy

[neufox47]

This is crazy, 21 dead after storm hits ultra marathon. Not a lot of details so far.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...-china-deaths/

Twenty-one people died Saturday in China while participating in an ultramarathon that was struck by drastic changes in weather, according to multiple reports.
Rescue work ended Sunday, per state-run Xinhua News Agency, after all 172 participants were accounted for, including eight who were treated with minor injuries.
The 100-kilometer (62-mile) cross-country event was held in high altitude at Yellow River Stone Forest Park in Gansu province. The ultramarathon began in pleasant conditions and many participants were lightly attired, according to reports, but soon the temperature plunged amid strong wind, freezing rain and hail.
“At 1 p.m. on Saturday, the wind got stronger. It was hard to stand up straight and move forward. When the wind was the strongest, I had to grasp the ground with both my hands to avoid being blown over,” said a survivor, who requested anonymity.
“I felt nothing but cold at the time,” the participant said. “I just ran about 30 kilometers and quit the race ahead of the third checkpoint. I fainted halfway down the mountain.”
The race was called off after several hours, by which point a number of runners reached a particularly challenging stretch that climbed to upward of 6,500 feet above sea level. Hundreds of rescue personnel who reportedly took part in search operations found their efforts were impeded at times by the rugged terrain, a landslide and falling temperatures overnight.
Among the reported dead were two acclaimed distance runners: Liang Jing, a 31-year-old ultramarathon champion, and Huang Guanjun, who won the men’s hearing-impaired marathon at China’s 2019 National Paralympic Games.


“As the organizer of the event, we feel a deep sense of guilt and remorse. We express our deep condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and the victims,” said Zhang Xuchen, the mayor of host city Baiyin, who fired the starting pistol.
The deaths reportedly sparked outrage on Chinese social media, with questions about whether organizers paid enough attention to differing forecasts or made sufficient contingency plans.
“At around noon, the high-altitude section of the race between 20 and 31 kilometers was suddenly affected by disastrous weather,” Zhang said at a briefing. “In a short period of time, hailstones and ice rain suddenly fell in the local area, and there were strong winds. The temperature sharply dropped.”
Six participants were aided by a local shepherd who guided them to a cave dwelling, per the Paper of Shanghai. Other local villagers brought quilted blankets to help warm runners, many of whom were suffering from hypothermia.
“The rain was getting heavier and heavier,” runner Mao Shuzhi, who said she turned back after approximately 24 kilometers because she feared the prospect of hypothermia, told Reuters.
“At first I was a bit regretful, thinking it might have just been a passing shower,” she said, “but when I saw the strong winds and rains later through my hotel room window, I felt so lucky that I made the decision.”

[sangogiare]

I’m a stupid dipshit spambot and I just got pwned by the moderators.


Thanks to mags for reporting these!

[stealurface831]

This reads like an onion article.


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[VTskibum]

This is when Type 3 fun (almost died on some epic adventure) becomes Type 4 actually did die, and doesn't quite hold the same level of epic adventure. Tragic all around

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

You see, this is why I won't do ultra marathons.

[Viva]

I experienced something similar at least a couple of times- PCT 50 miler in 1991 (coldest I've ever felt in my life) and Lost Boys 50 miler in 95. That Lost Boys race was canceled mid-race due to a winter storm that hit in mid-May. Fun times!

[3s]

The guys in the race that didnt die will have a real zinger to throw in there every time someone mentions having run a marathon

[muted reborn]

Sad and crazy that so many died in one event.

The event shirts saying "I survived the 2021 Baiyan Ultra-Marathon" really mean something.

[east or bust]

Anyone on here running the ultra down in Bryce Canyon this weekend?..


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[m2711c]

depends, what’s the weather gonna be like?

[neufox47]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nyt...vivor.amp.html

Survivors account.


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[jackstraw]

This is just insane. Suicide mission? Don't they have access to the weather channel in China?

[HellgateBasement]

A lot of callous posts about a tragic event that claimed 21 lives. These were people who loved competing outdoors. If this were a massive avalanche on the grand traverse would we be making jokes? Why is it ok here? Because China?

/debbie downer

[seano732]

A lot of callous posts about a tragic event that claimed 21 lives. These were people who loved competing outdoors. If this were a massive avalanche on the grand traverse would we be making jokes? Why is it ok here? Because China?

/debbie downer

Lighten up, Francis.....

[Viva]

These were people who loved competing outdoors.

Then again, maybe they were told that there was a free all-you-can-eat seafood buffet 100K down some trail going over those mountains, yonder.

[CirqueScaler]

Pretty sad. I think I read in another article that it was hosted by a poor area of China to raise money locally. Perhaps they didn't have the sophistication or services to adequately protect the racers. 21 is a lot of people.

Maybe relatedly? Organizers shortened the Giro stage which was due to finish on a snowy mountaintop. Many a Giro stage have finished atop a snowy mountaintop; maybe this was on the organizers' minds.

[stealurface831]

Perhaps they didn't have the sophistication or services to adequately protect the racers.

idk, i read that like 1,200 rescue personal turned out in the search and recovery efforts. seems if they can muster that up after the fact, they could've done more proactively.

[ötzi]

A lot of callous posts about a tragic event that claimed 21 lives. These were people who loved competing outdoors. If this were a massive avalanche on the grand traverse would we be making jokes? Why is it ok here? Because China?

/debbie downer

Lighten up, Francis.....

Both are correct. It's a brutal tragedy but it's so crazy it's also kinda funny. Like a lot of shit.

[stealurface831]

Both are correct. It's a brutal tragedy but it's so crazy it's also kinda funny. Like a lot of shit.

well said.

[seano732]

Both are correct. It's a brutal tragedy but it's so crazy it's also kinda funny. Like a lot of shit.

Speaking from experience, people process horrific shit in different ways, to include dark humor. I was reminded of the motorcycle mom who died doing a memorial ride for her son, who was killed in a motorcycle crash. Someone on here posted that that family needed to stop riding, to which another Mag (Viva?) responded 'they did'.........Tragic event. Funny shit.

[neufox47]

idk, i read that like 1,200 rescue personal turned out in the search and recovery efforts. seems if they can muster that up after the fact, they could've done more proactively.

Yea and it seems like they were slow to react when the weather / forecast was changing.

[old goat]

A lot of callous posts about a tragic event that claimed 21 lives. These were people who loved competing outdoors. If this were a massive avalanche on the grand traverse would we be making jokes? Why is it ok here? Because China?

/debbie downer

This. Nothing funny about it. The idea of gallows humor relieving tension and grief applies when the tragedy hits too close to home. People are making fun because it's China. Maybe the same accusation can be made when somebody dies doing something particularly stupid--if so, as a regular poster in the Darwin thread I'm guilty too. But these folks weren't doing anything stupid, unless running an ultra is stupid. We're mountain people--we all know how fast and severe the weather can change in the mountains. I've started the last few hundred feet to a pass in cloudless skis and arrived on the summit in grape sized hail and lightning. Two years in a row.

[seano732]

Respectfully disagree. “Gallows Humor” got me through 24 years in the fire service. I’m definitely not making fun because it’s China. What led you to come to that conclusion? As you said, there’s an entire thread dedicated to Darwinism. That you regularly post in. Your allegations are baseless. And your contention that “gallows humor “ only applies when it “ hits too close to home” is utter bullshit.

[Benny Profane]

Seriously, don't they have weather apps with radar over there? Everybody is walking around with a smartphone.

[mfcf13]

Seriously, don't they have weather apps with radar over there? Everybody is walking around with a smartphone.

There is satellite cell coverage on Everest but sudden changes in weather still catch climbing parties off guard, sometimes resulting in weather/freezing related deaths. Nature is a beast sometimes. As you certainly know from your rugged adventures at Keystone.