Saturday’s Yellow River Stone Forest Mountain Marathon is set to go down as running’s most deadly event ever, with 12 fatalities out of 172 runners following freak weather. But the tragedy was preventable and this time, local government is making no attempt at shirking responsibility.
周六的黄河石林山地马拉松比赛将成为跑步史上最致命的赛事，172 名跑步者中有 12 人因反常天气死亡。但这场悲剧是可以避免的，这一次，当地政府并没有试图推卸责任。
At 09:00 on 22 May, the runners, who had come from all over China to take part, went under the starting pistol at the extreme cross country race held in Jingtai County of Baiyin City in Gansu Province.
5月22日上午9点，来自全国各地参赛的跑者们在甘肃省白银市景泰县举行的极限越野赛上打响了发令枪。
Starting from a bend in the Yellow River famed for sheer cliffs and rock columns, runners faced mountain canyons and an arid plateau on the grueling 100 km-long race at a height of over 1,000 metres. Designated a “China Marathon Bronze Medal Event” by the China Track and Field Association, this was the fourth outing for the Yellow River Stone Forest Mountain Marathon.
从以悬崖峭壁和岩柱闻名的黄河河湾出发，选手们在海拔 1000 多米、全长 100 公里的艰苦比赛中面对高山峡谷和干旱高原。被中国田径协会指定为“中国马拉松铜牌赛事”，这是黄河石林山地马拉松第四次出征。
Many of runners were tackling the high-altitude section of the race when the weather hit. It was near Check Point 2 at the 24 km point that hail and freezing rain suddenly descended, accompanied by strong winds and a dramatic drop in temperature.
当天气来袭时，许多跑步者正在应对比赛的高海拔部分。在24公里处的2号检查站附近，突然降下冰雹和冻雨，并伴有强风和气温急剧下降。
At 12:00, the contestants released a distress message in the race’s WeChat group, but the competition was not officially called off until 14:00. Every runner reporters spoke to said that they had not been told by organisers to stop the competition before they had lost consciousness or were injured.
12:00，选手们在赛事微信群中发布求救信息，但直到14:00比赛才正式取消。记者采访的每一位跑者都表示，在他们失去知觉或受伤之前，组织者并没有告诉他们停止比赛。
But half an hour earlier, at about 13:30, Wang Qinlin, Branch Secretary of Humashui Village nearest the incident scene, had received notice and quickly set about quickly organising an ad hoc villagers’ rescue party.
但半小时前，13时30分左右，距离事发现场最近的呼马水村支部书记王钦林接到通知后，迅速组织起临时村民救援队伍。
Together with others, Lu Youduo, one of the villagers taking part, found three people frozen to death on their way to the rescue, reported Xinhua.
据新华社报道，参与救援的村民卢友多等人在前往救援的途中，发现三人被冻死。
Despite the late start, some 1,200 people were eventually mustered in the rescue effort which also made use of thermal imaging drones.
尽管起步较晚，但最终还是召集了约 1,200 人参与救援工作，救援工作也使用了热成像无人机。
The complex terrain made the operation particularly challenging, with night-time darkness a particular danger for rescuers. Li Yuanhui, leader of the Baiyin Fire Rescue Detachment, said the biggest difficultly was that the runners were so far away, and that only some sections of the trail could be traversed by vehicles.
复杂的地形使行动变得尤其具有挑战性，夜间黑暗对救援人员来说尤其危险。白银市消防救援支队队长李元辉说，最大的困难是跑者距离较远，只有部分路段可以车辆通行。
The body of the final victim was not found until 09:00 yesterday.
最后一名受害者的尸体直到昨天09:00才被发现。
Afterward, one of the runners spoke of what they had been through. “At that time, I couldn’t see my way down the mountain clearly. Many of the competitors were lying at the side of the track. Some of them may have been dead”, said the unnamed participant.
随后，一位跑步者讲述了他们的经历。 “当时我看不清下山的路，很多参赛者都躺在赛道边，有的可能已经死了。”这位不愿透露姓名的参赛者说道。
At a following news briefing, Baiyin government officials took full responsibility for the disaster and even stood to bow their apology to those assembled and the national media.
在随后的新闻发布会上，白银市政府官员对此次灾难承担了全部责任，甚至起身向与会者和全国媒体致歉。
Indeed there can be little doubt that the weekend’s tragedy was entirely avoidable.
事实上，毫无疑问，周末的悲剧是完全可以避免的。
Director of the Meteorological Bureau of Jingtai County, Kang Yongxue, said that he had provided special information for the event, advising of a “strong wind blue warning”.
景泰县气象局局长康永学表示，他已针对此次事件提供了特别信息，建议发布“大风蓝色预警”。
Extreme weather prediction is a precondition for events of this sort, said Song Ming, who heads up a well-known outdoor club in Gansu Province. Song also said that the event’s organisers failed to take appropriate actions following the early warning provided by the meteorological bureau.
甘肃省一家知名户外俱乐部的负责人宋明表示，极端天气预报是此类事件发生的前提。宋还表示，活动组织者未能在气象局发出预警后采取适当行动。
There also remains the issue of equipment for runners in these types of extreme races. That they carry items such as thermal blankets is at present only recommended and not compulsory.
在这些类型的极限比赛中，跑步者的装备问题仍然存在。目前，他们携带保暖毯等物品只是建议性的，而不是强制性的。
With the Chinese public still shocked in disbelief that a tragedy of this nature could happen, the regulations for both operators of and participants in such extreme mountain marathons are certain to be in for some tightening. And they are sure to be extreme in themselves.
由于中国公众仍然对这种性质的悲剧可能发生感到震惊，因此对于此类极限山地马拉松的运营商和参与者的规定肯定会受到一些收紧。他们本身肯定是极端的。
