Bit worrying that there is an odd number unaccounted for - hope he/she is OK.
Bit worrying that there is an odd number unaccounted for - hope he/she is OK.
Splinter, have you any idea what a mountain marathon is?
One of the problems was there was no mobile phone coverage in the area. Secondly the road was closed by flooding cutting off the race HQ. Thirdly they might be a bit busy....
There might not be so much worry if the media weren't hyping it up and portraying the competitors as passive victims needing rescuing - look at it another way ie atrocious conditions yet so far 98% of teams coped ok with just a few minor injuries, and rest are hopefully just making their way back. I think that says a lot about the experience and endurance of the competitors. We retired after a couple of hours on long score because of concerns about injury - but thoroughly enjoyed it none the less. It's up to competitors to assess their own ability to compete and know what to do to get out of trouble - hopefully that won't change
Yes, shockingly I've even managed to complete a couple of them. I guess I wasn't aware that being self-reliant and able to run safely in the hills precluded an awareness that one still lives in the real world and, even when able to look after yourself, one still bears some responsibility towards the other people at home who are involved in your life.Originally Posted by Bladerunner
I'm sick of this thread because in refusing to accept reality, in my view it is just making the entire sport look myopic and runners selfish and self-obsessed. Someone above implied the organisers might have a bit too busy to make a statement. Surely making a statement is one of the exact things they should have been busy doing, or does everyone just think that keeping the spouses/partners/siblings sat at home and worried without any official information perfectly acceptable behaviour. Well, I don't and I'm sorry if anyone finds that offensive.
Nice to find that in in this community of iconclasts and individualists (sic), when push comes to shove there's always critcism for those who don't toe the party line.
Last edited by Splinter; 26-10-2008 at 01:59 PM.
makes you wonder about the rest of the BBC's news reports.
Splinter,
The organisers responsibilities were clearly to direct their efforts to making sure that all competitors were accounted for. Its way off target to criticise them for not making any statements. This wasnt their responsibility, this wasnt their priority, this wasnt necessary.
I think you'll find that the Cumbria Police have been making these statements that you see such a need for. Though I suspect this has only been because of the baying wolves amongst the media pack and the hysterical rantings of non-running partners.
The organisers arent ducking their responsibilities, and the competitors certainly havent been ducking theirs. To paraphrase Sartre, hell is being created by other people....
Back home and safe after a memorable and actually, terrific weekend. Haven't yet peeked into my bag to pinch out the soggy contents at arms length yet, that's to come before a nice long bath.
There's bound to be differing views as to whether it should have been called off or not and there are also those who are looking for blame to be attached. Whatever your view, surely everyone agrees that it was a tough call to actually, physically make and be responsible for. By defintion, tough decisions are easy to get wrong so let's cut some people some slack.
The key is that lessons are learned. I'm sure we all agree on that.
I don't think any runner expected anything from the organisers. Self-reliance is the essence of this. The only expectations we have, I beleive, are the most fundamental things, which is the provision of a good competition and facilities to match, which were all there and fine, and the provision of good information to all concerned, circumstances permitting, when things go wrong. Including loved ones and especailly the media.
It's that latter point where lessons need learning, and this is noone's fault cos i imagine the organisers have not been in this position before. Whilst it's hard to get informaiton to all runners, it is easier to get some information to the media. In the event of a vacuum, the media will fill it with shite. Charity runners, 1000's still on the fells....all garbage.
Someone should know it's their job to liaise with the media at times like this. Communications lies at the heart of any emergency plan. Such a person can chase key facts and report them accurately, which the media will do given half a chance, despite what folks might think. If they knew that, say, x hundred dibbers had been handed in, y hundred were at cockermouth, honister etc and that the rest are all looking after themselves on the hills, the story gets reported as the event it is rtaher than the one the media assume it to be.
When more inforation about the event and the types of people that do it became available, the media changed what they reported and it became more accurate. So a key lesson has to be that someone picks this role up and actively seeks the kind of information to provide the media with a true picture. This is not a dig, because who could have predicted this with any degree of accuracy? But my missus, who like many others who wondered what the hell was going on would have been happier to know that our dibber had been handed in and we were accounted for.
at times like this, it's easy to play the blame game. Better to think constructvely about what could be done differently and more effectively next time. these exact circumstances will not be repeated, not exactly, so no point in dwelling on this forcast, that field, those cars, that course etc. There will, i'm sure, be a future instance where information needs to be gathered and communicated, and that is where some of the post-mortem's attention should go.
Finally, i would also ask the organisers to consider whether the sheer size of the event/number of competetors needs a look. Did having so many make life especailly difficult and raise the risks? Not sure myselkf, but that is something they can control, unlike the weather.
Thanks to all those who organised it and I genuinely look forward to next year.
ST
Last edited by Mark Smith; 26-10-2008 at 02:30 PM.
Half of these news reporters and presenters will probably call 'running' and thing you do on a treadmill. And anything outside is just obsessive.
Like the majority of non-runners think that if you run more that a couple of miles on the flat your not normal.
On Friday i was getting my haircut and i told her that on Saturday (yesterday) i would be doing a 13 miler. You should have seen her jaw drop. And when i told her that i caught the bus from Preston to Keswick to run up ashness bridge to Walla crag....she said i was mental. She has no idea!
So all these people; particularly the news, that are slagging all that’s happened off should shut their mouths and talk about something they actually have knowledge about.....people like that just drive me mad.
I don't get this. My only thought is "wish I'd been there". How bad could it be? Have none of you "j'accuse!" brigade ever been out in a tent on a wild night up on the tops. If not: stop calling yourselves mountaineers. If it gets too bad -walk off. What's the problem? The only grounds I can think of for closing the event would be the problem of flooding in the car parking area. After all it's no joke to get back and find your car full of water.
By the way great to see orienteering get a mention although it might be a bit harder to persuade parents to let their children come on my events in future!
Point for the future is closer vetting of participants if some, in truth, are up there without the wherewithal.
Very well put!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote