[ORRando] Interesting article in the UK Independent today

fitzbase at comcast.net fitzbase at comcast.net
Tue Oct 28 02:22:07 PDT 2008


I'm working in our Cambridge, UK office this week (no, didn't bring the bike this time; not staying over a weekend day, and I can walk to the office just as easily as pedal)

The Mountain Marathon was held this past weekend; it is a fell-running activity, where participants are essentially in a two-day orienteering event, and they camp out overnight whereever they happen to be.  It seems to be a requirement that the terrain be rugged and the weather be suboptimal.  They are self-supported. (perhaps this bears a slight resemblance to an activity we all know and love)

This year's event was epic, in terms of the weather.  Amazing rain, flash floods, dramatically lowered temperatures.  The newspapers and the public were all upset: "the fells were one heartbeat from being turned into a morgue", "hundreds lost", etc, etc.

The article in today's paper basically said that no, no one was lost, as a matter of fact all of them had a pretty good idea of where they were, it just didn't involve a roof, walls, and heat.  And that the danger was part of the challenge (fun).  And no, the organizers shouldn't make the activity SAFE; that would lead to unprepared participants.  There was some note of the "nannying" of events (Surgeon general anyone?), and perhaps the government or society would be happier if we all just paid to join a gym.

here is one sensational blog report: http://hikerhell.blogspot.com/2008/10/2500-runners-rescued-from-original.html

very few were "rescued" - they all found their own way out.

Food for thought.


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