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172 Runners Started This Ultramarathon. 21 of Them Never Came Back.
Runner's World ^ | October 15, 2021 | WUFEI YU AND WILL FORD

Posted on 10/18/2021 12:00:29 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Yan Daixiang squinted through dense, freezing fog as she struggled to make out her surroundings. Runners were scattered everywhere—off the trail, in ravines, on the other side of the mountain—dotting the hillside in brightly colored athletic gear. It was hard to tell loose clothing and people apart. People trudged in every direction, struggling against freezing wind and rain. Others huddled around bushes or boulders.

Some runners passed Yan, heading back down the mountain. They’d tried to reach the race’s third checkpoint at mile 17, but failed. They were retreating now, back to the second checkpoint, to drop out.

“It’s way too cold on the top at the third checkpoint,” one cautioned Yan.

The temperature had been dropping consistently since the rain had started. It would get colder the higher she climbed. Yan was still going up.

Most of the runners were wearing shorts and T-shirts. Racers had been encouraged to stow their warm clothes in a drop bag, which they could pick up at mile 39, at the 6th checkpoint. But few had expected they would need extra layers: the Yellow River Stone Forest 100K took place in a desert, and in previous years runners had battled heatstroke, not hypothermia. The bags, if they had anything warm in them, were nearly 20 miles away.

Yan was lucky; she had brought warmer clothes with her. She donned long pants and a jacket, and decided to keep moving.

There was a mile left to climb before the next checkpoint. Around her, more dots of neon color covered the mountainside—crawling, lying on the ground, standing but barely moving. Yan approached an elderly man whose eye was bleeding. He insisted he was fine.

(Excerpt) Read more at runnersworld.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Health/Medicine; Hobbies; Local News; Miscellaneous; Outdoors; Society; Sports; Weather
KEYWORDS: 100k; china; cold; hypothermia; injuries; rain; running; weather
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1 posted on 10/18/2021 12:00:29 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I’m going to see if I can start an event the competitors pay for.
It will encompass a 500 yard briar patch low crawl, followed by a swim from Alcatraz to the mainland.
Entry is $500.


2 posted on 10/18/2021 12:07:41 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Can’t read the article (paywall). However, if it presents what I think it does, then maybe this is a sign that competitions are focusing too hard on “extreme” and not enough on the actual sport. A 100K run is challenging enough without throwing in extreme conditions, and even events that change terrain a lot (such as the Tour de France) are designed to have gear that changes based on the terrain of the day. To go from desert to mountain in a single day is a level of stupidity on the part of the organizers that should preclude them from ever being an organizer again. It sounds as if 17 runners died. Horrendous price for ignorance.


3 posted on 10/18/2021 12:07:51 PM PDT by RainMan (Democrats ... making war against America since April 12, 1861)
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To: EEGator

“I’m going to see if I can start an event the competitors pay for.
It will encompass a 500 yard briar patch low crawl, followed by a swim from Alcatraz to the mainland.
Entry is $500.“

I’m in.
When is it?


4 posted on 10/18/2021 12:10:04 PM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Leave me alone, I have no incriminating evidence on the Clinton's )
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To: HereInTheHeartland

February 13th, that way you can prove your heart to your lover.


5 posted on 10/18/2021 12:14:49 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator
Im in. Do we get a t-shirt?
6 posted on 10/18/2021 12:16:42 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: EEGator

You are joking of course. However I knew a guy who did a triathlon where the swim leg was from Alcatraz to San Francisco. I’m sure he paid an entry fee so you may be on to something?


7 posted on 10/18/2021 12:17:45 PM PDT by Woodman
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To: dhs12345

Those who cross the finish line do.
You also get a loaf of sourdough bread and a bottle of MD 20/20.


8 posted on 10/18/2021 12:19:05 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: Woodman

I just want to see if I can make money by getting people to hurt themselves/die for t-shirts.


9 posted on 10/18/2021 12:20:13 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator

And a mug, a mug. I need it to drink my MD 20/20.

Will people be out in the bay in boats handing out water?


10 posted on 10/18/2021 12:22:18 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Only Runnersworld+ members can view this page


11 posted on 10/18/2021 12:22:41 PM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
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To: EEGator

I’m going to see if I can start an event the competitors pay for.
It will encompass a 500 yard briar patch low crawl, followed by a swim from Alcatraz to the mainland.
Entry is $500.

Add in a freestyle swim in a piranha infested river and you’ve got a winner event!


12 posted on 10/18/2021 12:22:51 PM PDT by Flick Lives (The future is a quiet world)
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To: dhs12345

Mentally ill drug addicts will be chumming the water.

All cool people drink MD 20/20 straight from the bottle that’s in a brown bag.


13 posted on 10/18/2021 12:24:57 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator

Sounds good.
I haven’t been swimming from Alcatraz but have run the San Francisco’s marathon 3 times.
Doing hard physical things is a good thing. And I’m on the other side of 60.

BUT, there is a difference between doing hard physical things and being reckless.

This event in China was reckless .
Not sure how no one was aware of the dangerous weather, however as in the US are used to having good quality weather forecasts and data.


14 posted on 10/18/2021 12:26:00 PM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (Leave me alone, I have no incriminating evidence on the Clinton's )
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To: Flick Lives

Maybe after the swim we’ll have a 5K nude run through the Castro District.


15 posted on 10/18/2021 12:26:13 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: HereInTheHeartland

“Not sure how no one was aware of the dangerous weather,”

Apparently ignored pre-race warnings.


16 posted on 10/18/2021 12:27:52 PM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
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To: HereInTheHeartland

If you like hard/borderline reckless competition, I highly recommend CrossFit.


17 posted on 10/18/2021 12:31:16 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator
It will encompass a 500 yard briar patch low crawl, followed by a swim from Alcatraz to the mainland.

Hey, I've done the Alcatraz swim part, followed by a 3 mile run.

Do I get a prize?

18 posted on 10/18/2021 12:34:20 PM PDT by Yossarian
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To: Yossarian

You can go first in my new competition.


19 posted on 10/18/2021 12:35:24 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: Yossarian
Hey, I've done the Alcatraz swim part, followed by a 3 mile run.

That’s impressive!

I got winded walking up the switchbacks to the top of Alcatraz for the prison tour.

20 posted on 10/18/2021 12:38:26 PM PDT by Allegra
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