Lots of problems in the Lake District over the last 24 hours. From the local news. 1000 runners still unaccounted for over night as the Original Mountain Marathon was abandoned. It’s hoped that most have made their way off the fells and home but rescue teams still out searching. Over 140mm of rain in last 24 hours at Honister and 470+mm in the last 48 hours and very strong winds. Several main and many minor roads still closed with flooding.
Here it is sunny at the moment but still windy with wintery conditions forecast for the day so we’re having a day off so as not to add to the problems!
Take care if you’re coming this way
73
Rob
G4RQJ
In reply to G4RQJ:
4PM yesterday we (Ribble Valley RAYNET) were put on standby, potentially being required to add to the rescue teams, due to comms issues with mobile phones etc. 7pm we were stood down as the rescue services were packing up for the night due to the weather conditions.
Not heard anything this morning, neither have any of the other group controllers, so looks like situation may be improving.
There is some great video footage on www.sleepmonsters.co.uk, but the OMM website is currently down due to over demand.
Lee
M0LMP
I was also checking out the updates on sleepmonsters.co.uk. I did a couple of these in the dim and distant past in the KIMM days.
Here is the video Lee refers too… nice.
http://www.sleepmonsters.co.uk/racereport.php?page_action=rep&race_id=6846&article_id=5435
73 Marc G0AZS
In reply to G4RQJ:
Lots of problems in the Lake District over the last 24 hours. From the
local news. 1000 runners still unaccounted for over night as the
Original Mountain Marathon was abandoned. It’s hoped that most have
made their way off the fells and home but rescue teams still out
searching. Over 140mm of rain in last 24 hours at Honister and 470+mm
in the last 48 hours and very strong winds. Several main and many
minor roads still closed with flooding.
Here it is sunny at the moment but still windy with wintery conditions
forecast for the day so we’re having a day off so as not to add to the
problems!
Take care if you’re coming this way
73
Rob
G4RQJ
Ye Gods! Are those figures correct or has a decimal point slipped? In old money thats over 18 inches of rain in 48 hours, enough to bring whole hillsides down!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:Hi Brian you must be using a different formulae to me 140mm divide by 25.4 is 5.5 inches.ATB Geoff.
In reply to G6MZX:
My mental arithmetic isn’t what it used to be, but I still reckon thats 18.5+ inches in 48 hours which is less than historic downpours which brought spreads of gravel and boulders onto fields and roads. I hope it doesn’t repeat next weekend, I shall be in Patterdale!
73
Brian G8ADD
Edit - somehow 18.5 which is what I thought I was typing came out as 14.5, I must have had too much Old Hooky last night!
In reply to G6MZX:
Over 48 hours 470mm = 18.5" Geoff 
Roger G4OWG
In reply to G4OWG:Yes you are correct I was working on the 24 hour summary.ATB Geoff.
In reply to G4RQJ:
As of 11-20,UTC. On the BBc News 44 runners still unaccounted for, for those outside UK, wanting more information click on link below.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081026/tuk-hundreds-of-runners-still-missing-45dbed5.html
Steve m0sgb
I participated in the KIMM (Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, forerunner of the OMM) for many years and it is an unusual event where heavy rain and sometimes even snow isn’t a factor. But this year does seem to have been exceptionally bad, even worse than the last event I did, in the Howgills, 1998, where we eventually retired having fallen in several times whilst trying to cross streams that had become raging torrents.
It’s good to see that some slightly less sensationalist reporting is now emerging. I expect we’ll find that most of the 44 still unaccounted for are down to accounting errors (bound to happen with 2500+ competitors and given the extreme circumstances). A phone call will sort those out. It was certainly drilled into all competitors that it was essential to check in on retiring and I’d be surprised if anyone failed to do so without very good reason.
From personal experience I can vouch for the fact that competitor competence is carefully vetted by the organisers and with the equipment required to be carried an overnight camp on the high fells, whilst perhaps uncomfortable, should be no big deal. In these risk adverse times, where personal responsibility and self reliance are increasingly discouraged by those in authority, it’s good to see that events like this still take place and are always oversubscribed.
73, John/WGV
Postscript, 12:35 - Now only 14 unaccounted for. It’ll soon be a non-story.
In reply to G3WGV:
As of 14:40 according to Sky News all now accounted for
Graham G3OHC
In reply to G3OHC:
Just back from the OMM. Yes it was wet and windy and probably marginally worse than the howling Howgills which I and my brother completed. Our experience (only one team’s snapshot of course) was that the conditions on the hill were within limits provided you were careful over route choice and river crossing points. If we’d felt they were unsafe for us we would have binned it early. We got into overnight camp by 14:00 and would have been happy to continue had the event not being cancelled. (I think the halfway camp field was flooded anyway) A quick run over Honister by road (3-4 inches of water running down hill, hard work into wind) brought us back into the event HQ where there was some pretty bad flooding on the approach road which meant a choice between putting up our tent or sleeping in the car overnight (we chose the car, and so had a more comfortable Sat night than is customary on the Kimm - oops I mean OMM) We bugged out at 07:00 when the waters had subsided remarkably quickly. I was very sorry for those competitors and helpers whose cars were seriously flooded by the side of the road and selfishly relieved that our car - parked in the official car park was not flooded.
One of those OMMS along with Howgills and Galloway Hills that will stick in the mind!
Neil (MW0ECX)
In reply to MW0ECX:
Good report Neil, and exactly what I would have expected. Pity that the media, which knows nothing about such things, feels that it has to sensationalise everything.
Well done on finishing the Howgills race by the way. It was too much for me and we retired half way through day one.
73, John/WGV
In reply to G3WGV:
I fear that SOTA will have to revisit the English height bands if this report proves to be accurate:
It also means that England now has the UK’s highest mountains by quite a margin.
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
He he he , that report was hilarious, thanks for that Richard, brightened a gloomy evening. Just updating my Memory Map Software online, it must have the new summit on there !!
Lee
In reply to G3CWI:
Brilliant !!!
So how many points for 7,000 ft plus??..
Let me know where it is…I may get to be a mountain goat after all!!
Hi, also returned yesterday, was part of North Yorkshire Scouts event support team, who each year set up event centre, camp site, power light and water etc, car parking and general odd jobbing. I also had a PBR setup up with all event centre staff in radio contact. Press got it all wrong as per usual - esp for those who know what the OMM is all about. We got marooned at event centre till late saturday night by flood water but managed to get out at about 11pm in a couple of 4x4s to our village hall beds in Rosthwaite. Our team who went over Honistor to set up the overnight camp unfortunately got marrooned back in Borrowdale and could not rejoin us in Seathwaite event centre, which meant that we were a bit stretched for staff.
At one point the Police said that they may need to call in Raynet - failing to notice the central lancs Raynet vehicle that was doing the comms anyway and wer in full contact with overnight camp etc!
My XYL was doing first aid and at one point the corner of the barn resembled Holby city with a couple of broken arms/wrists and a very nasty facial injury caused by the wind blowing the chap off his feet and him landing face first on rocks, glad we didn’t have a mirror as we never showed him his wounds. We had about 5 with hypothermia, 2 of which were very bad and needed to go to hospital, they all made it out on the last vehicle to get out of event centre before we got totally flooded in - that was a high lift MRT Landrover 110 with snorkel etc, they took the worst casualaties - and the Cumbria ambulance paramedic whose vehicle was now stuck.
The RAF sea king came in about 10.00 Sunday morning to assist, but many competitors came wandering back into the centre unaware that it had all being called off, they just found some shelter, set up their tent and bedded down for the night then carried on Sunday !
Glad that all competitors made it backsafe and well. Just busy now mucking out the car and drying boots etc. Fortunately my car was parked on higher ground, not like the competitors who parked on the road, despite being advised not to by our team. Neil - glad you made it back ok and car was OK. I Remember vividly the Howling Howgills in 1998 as that was my first, been doing them ever since - here’s looking forward to next year !!
73, Phil 2E0PHL
In reply to 2E0PHL:
Hi Phil,
just a quick note to thank you and all your fellow N Yorks Scout support team on the OMM. We’ve always appreciated your efforts, but never more so than than this year. Thanks again
Neil (MW0ECX)