[Excerpt]

When Zhang Xiaotao set off last weekend on a 100-kilometer (62-mile) ultra-marathon through the jagged mountains of northwestern China, he didn't know he was embarking on one of the deadliest journeys in the country's sporting history.

Zhang is the lone survivor of the six athletes who were leading the race on a remote stretch of track when extreme weather caused freezing rain and a sudden dive in temperature.
A local herdsman dragged Zhang into a cave, which shielded him from succumbing to the hypothermia that killed his closest competitors. In total, 21 of the 172 participants died, including some of China's best-known marathon champions.

The tragedy shocked China's running community and prompted public outrage, with many questioning whether the organizers had planned the race properly and prepared participants for the extreme weather.

[Full article] - https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/china/ultramarathon-safety-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

Wow! What a terrible ordeal!

Foil blanket vs bad weather. Working as well as expected.

I saw this a while back. Terrible, but forseeable. Like the Franklin Expedition.

The takeaway for me was that locals, who operate in this environment all the time, dragged survivors into improvised shelters. I'm sure they had a few private thoughts about turistas who were more concerned with Instagram photos (or equivalent) than understanding the actual environment around them.

Photos from the entrance and inside of the hearders cave. It wasn´t improvised.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/25/asia/shepherd-ultra-marathon-china-intl/index.html

Useful story and photos. Thanks!