Originally Posted by kgc
yep you are new to this game
yep you are new to this game
im just back, it was bad, worst rain/wind iv been racing in, ive not had time to look through all posts but it was horendous. it rained for abt 19-20hrs solid, gale force winds on the tops, people been blown (myself included) on their arses due to wind. id heard the organisers were told by the mine manager to cancel event. we got to mid way campsite at 1.30 having decided to give up tring to score points. then abt 1.30 later was told or herad that it was over and sent back to HQ, madness, the walk over honister pass was as bad as being on mountains, wind and rain. the organisers decided at 12 to cancel they shld have told people stright away rather than letting people put tents up.
had to sleep in car ay HQ as it was flooded of so cldnt get out, then this morning stuck with the mud
hope everyone was ok and makes it back, ah well, next year......
Can't speak from personal experience of this years OMM but have done 14 KIMM / OMM - 17 SLMM - 1 LAMM and 1 MMM.
The "problem" has been anticipated to soon, competitors start with kit for a 2 day stay out and the knowledge of how to use that kit in an emergency.
The guy at the slate mines has the right to his opinion but, like the media, are basing it on a small amount of knowledge.
I competed in the Howgills, a pal was swept 200 yards down a "stream" not far from the start, and had a brilliant day on the hills, We lost places on the second day in totally clear conditions.
From phone calls to people concerned, the competitors that were not comfortable being out, retired early and were directed back to Borrowdale, others reached midway camp to be informed of the decision to cancel and ended up with an uncomfortable night in a barn, having set off over the Honister and turned round by the police.
The mountain rescue, in my opinion, should not have been called out on mass, if indeed they had, Where were they going to search? and for Who?
I state again, competitors that were out are self sufficient for 2 days, if they are not then they should not be there.
Lets take stock at the end of today to see how large the "problem" was.
I will be surprised if there is anything other than minor injuries of the nature you would see in any Mountain Marathon.
the media have a job to do and so does the Slate Mine manager, I say thanks to him for sheltering runners but lets try and educate the uninitiated of the skills we hold.
i take your point although you wasnt there. this didnt let up so till early this morning, both me and partner have a lot of fell running/mountaineering exp under our belts and we thgt it was bad, i think some of the decisions could have been implemented earlier, as for people making their minds up abt staying or retireing, from what i knew 1700 of us didnt get that choice as they/we got stuck and had to battern the hatches down so to speak, which we are or shld be well prepared for i agree.be interesting to see how this devlops.
Don't be too hard on the guy at Honister. He provided a huge amount of support - warmth, tea and coffee and transport.
Also, his spokesman was giving a much more considered response this morning on Sky News.
I take my hat off to all of you that were out, I should have been there but, for personal reasons, wasn't (luckily).
Only you could find a computer in the middle of all this
is your car okay, if u need fetching you know where i am
To add two penny worth - we upgraded from the A to the elite when they reduced the routes, got round fine (well a little cold and wet) and many thanks to Mark who gave a hand getting across some of the enlarged streams (one time coming back up hill to help).
We dod carry extra kit bit most of the time it was not that bad
We ended up spending the night in a climbing hut where a certain Mike Parsons (organiser) was - as of last night there were 30 runners un accounted for not 1500
apparently the worse injury was a broken leg caused some-how by a portaloo....
saying on Sky TV that there are now just 3 unaccounted for runners...lets all hope and pray they are safe and just out of contact
Everybody is reducing the issue of criticism of the organisers (by me and others) to a question of were they or weren't they right to go ahead with the race. But that's only part of it (and in some ways the part about their actions for which they are the least culpable, too because I accept there is always some degree of luck as well as judgement involved.)
But starting yesterday afternoon, there have been a stream of posts from worried spouses on the OMM board who had partners in the race yet still, even this morning, not a single official word from the race organisers to address them. Other runners who'd made it home and fell runners not in the race (like some people here) posted words to calm them but surely part of the job of a race organiser is to act responsibly in situations like this and keep people informed? Could not a single official statement of any kind be made?
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