The Original Mountain Marathon
Waiting for the Floods to Subside
Rob Howard / 25.10.2008
I may be only a few miles from race HQ at Seathwaite, but as I’m unable to get there I’ve had the strange experience of spending the afternoon watching the media get hold of the story of the 2008 OMM and run with it. Starting as ‘breaking news’ on BBC, it then made it to the main BBC news, was the lead on ITN and is now on all the major news networks, in the UK and around the world.It’s no surprise of course. Mass participation, angry local residents (the guy at Honister Mine who said the organisers ‘should be shot, but that can come later’), the uncertainty of lost people in the mountains and floods - they push all the right media buttons for a good story, and the fact there is little communication here leads to some speculation. The story is all over most of the major news networks now and our elderly B&B hosts (who kindly raided the larder for us as the nearby hotel had a river running through it) are a bit bemused by the media storm.
The down side to this is that a fair amount of misinformation gets circulated and lots of people are worried about friends and family who were taking part. The facts are gradually being straightened out. It is no longer being called a charity event, and the BBC finally accepted that there are parts of the world where there is no mobile coverage, but it is difficult for those with no knowledge of the OMM to understand what a mountain marathon is.
The idea of self-reliance isn’t a popular one in this day and age, so the fact that 900 people are said to be unaccounted for is being presented with the implication they are lost and in trouble – which is not the case. They are all well equipped and the vast majority will have made their way down off the hills and found shelter – though they may not be able to get back to race HQ or let anyone know where they are. Those who didn’t get off the hills still have a tent, sleeping bags, stove and food – and they expected to camp out in very wet conditions.See All Event Posts
