A wet a windy day in the Lake District - Currently 14 Mountain Fell Runners still missing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/7691531.stm

The organisers banned mobile phones. That's like banning life rafts in a sailing contest. Hopefully they'll abandon this insane rule. Or people will have the sense not to go on it.
The Sock

They are all accounted for now, according to The Independent.

It sounds like they were all well-prepared. Mobile phone coverage is poor in the area anyway.

Just curious, what is the rationale behind banning cell phones?

John E

From their web site:

"This is the premier UK event to test teamwork, self-reliance, endurance, outdoor and navigational skills. The reputation of the event is worldwide and every year we have entrants from between 12-14 countries.

The ethos of the event is to be totally self-reliant, in the wilds, carrying all equipment, no outside support and without GPS or cell phone. Your first source of help is your partner and if you retire you are responsible for getting yourselves back to base. Any teams not arriving at the overnight camp are assumed to have camped safely. In these days of 24/7 contact and total support this is an event to test and indeed help develop teamwork and self-reliance."

The Sock

A laudable goal, however it sounds like they chose to continue a recreational activity in the face of lousy weather, when they really should have "ehh, it's a game- we have a rain date".

Again I ask, what is the rationale behind banning cell phones? Are the people organising this event so stupid as to think that if someone were to get seriously injured or killed that using a cell phone violates the spirit of the game?

It is a game right? Or are the participants expected to simply die if they make a serious mistake?

How does banning emergency communications "develop teamwork and self-reliance"?

I suppose that SAR teams should go on a misson without their radios just to prove that they can...

John E

The Lake District is one of the few areas of the UK with patchy mobile phone coverage. Many people outdoors these days fall back on their mobile phones to call for help when there is an emergency and have no other plan. Unfortunately this would leave them dangerously exposed in the Lake District, no coverage, no help.

Thus by stopping the use of phones the runners KNOW in advance to have a safety plan that works. The right kit,knowledge and experience to get out of trouble. They know no one will be coming to their aid because they can't just call.

These runners are in pairs and have a culture of helping other pairs to complete the course, high camaraderie.

The course is tough and only for very experienced people who have to prove that experience before being allowed to enter the race.

It works, the OMM has been going for years, over 40 I believe, and the only problems are usually twisted ankles and so on. It is indicative that even in the appalling weather this year only trivial injuries have occurred.

One of the objects of the race is to build self reliance but our society is increasingly being the nanny. These people know exactly the risk, manage it correctly and succeed safely year after year.

It shows there are other ways of being safe without relying on mobile phones, GPS and technology in general.

From the BBC website:
RAF Flt Lt Curly Crawford earlier said a helicopter crew had airlifted five runners and two mountain rescue volunteers to safety.

"A female had been washed into a river by the rains, and obviously [was] in grave danger of being washed away," he told the BBC.

"Fortunately she'd been recovered by fellow runners but was severely injured and suffering from hypothermia."

this is 'trivial'?

The Sock

If true, for her, no.

For the event, yes.

As a percentage of the runners the number of injuries are far less than other events, e.g. the London Marathon which has a lot of wannabes who injure themselves and also has a number of deaths at its door and this is the centre of London on a fine day.

Assessment of risk is a tricky thing, 10 people a day die on the roads of the UK, does this worry you when you drive? No, because you accept that risk as a penalty of the benefit of driving.

Likewise the runners assess the risk expertly and competently and manage that risk to minimise it. It cannot be eliminated, there is risk to everything we do. For her it went wrong, for the event it was a success.

Please do not believe all you read at the BBC. That was some of the poorest reporting I have seen for a while, just trying to make a story out of nothing.

Read the comments of the people who were there:
OMM Discussion Site