I cant help feeling that mobiles still tend to reduce self reliance and encourage people to carry on in circumstances where a more sensible decision might be to get off the hill - as an ex MR member I do know of a number of rescues where they have been helpful but I can also think of others where people have 'relied' on a call to MR not as a last resort but as an early solution to perceived difficulties which they could have resolved themselves with a little skill or effort. This is contrary to what I understand to be the ethos of being in the mountains be it to run climb or walk. As a fell runner I am inclined to think that a greater aid to safety than carrying a mobile would be by having more thorough kit checks at all starts - possibly at registration? I think I've only ever had my kit checked a couple of times apart from Jura where its done every year for everybody. Personally instead of a mobile I would rather carry (and often do) some extra food, a bivi bag or heavier duty cag etc than a mobile - at least I know I can rely on those to work when I need them to! I'm sure a mobile probably does add an extra degree of safety in some circumstances - but so would building a road to the top of Scafell to let an ambulance get there more quickly and so would insisting that nobody ever runs solo on the fells.. I know these are extreme examples but its all about what is acceptable to each of us as individuals, so I'm not criticising anyones views here - if I dont like a race organisers rules I'll either accept them anyway with good grace - or choose not to enter.