"It's so horrible, I have to shed tears every time I say it."
(Screenshot of Liang Jing's pre-race video from the Yellow River Stone Forest National Geopark)
But Liang Jing, China's record-holder in cross-country running, didn't make it through. Liang Jing is the top cross-country runner in China. In 2015, Liang Jing quit his job to focus on running for prizes for a living. He used to have a proud and brilliant record: in 2018, Liang Jing won the 2018 Jinan 12-hour ultra marathon with a score of 151.2 kilometers, and broke his own record of China's 12-hour ultra-marathon; just last month, the Ningbo Jiangnan 100-mile cross-country race, Liang Jing has just won the new 100-mile course with a score of 18 hours, 24 minutes and 23 seconds. Just last month, in Ningbo Jiangnan 100-mile cross-country race, Liang Jinggang created a new 100-mile track record with 18 hours, 24 minutes and 23 seconds, and gained 30,000 yuan.
The Yellow River Stone Forest 100-mile cross-country race is no stranger to Liang Jing. He won the first three championships, and this year was his fourth, but he ended up losing temperature and fell on the familiar track.
Nearly 48 hours have passed since the 21 people were killed, and many of the victims' relatives, friends and families are still asking: how did the rescue unfold in the first place? The whole race emergency measures, rescue system in the end has not worked?
"It's harder to go back than it is to go forward."
Wang Jinming is a first-time participant in cross-country running, and all the marathons he has participated in have been "road races". The website saw the event, far away from Chongqing, Wang Jinming held a run to see the mentality of registration to participate in the event.
The day before the race, the organizers opened a technical analysis, all the participants in the 100 kilometers of cross-country race have to participate. The Yellow River Stone Forest 100 kilometers cross-country race track, has a certain degree of difficulty, the altitude of the whole in 2000 meters, a large part of the track in the no man's land, 20 hours of closing time also has a certain "threshold". Wang Jinming said that such a cross-country running is really a threshold for novices.
Wang Jinming recalled that when the race started, the weather was not unusual. He brought a thermal blanket, GPS, a whistle, and a punching bag. When he ran to the cp2 to cp3 section, the weather suddenly changed, gusty winds, freezing rain and hail came together, and the temperature plummeted to only a few degrees. Wang Jinming felt his hands and feet gradually cold, gradually blurred consciousness.
(May 23, Gansu Baiyin Mountain Marathon cross-country race injured people in Jingtai County People's Hospital to receive treatment. (Photo / CNN)
He wanted to open the insulation blanket he was carrying, due to cold limbs, disassembled for more than 20 minutes to open, however, a gust of wind blew his insulation blanket away. At this time, Wang Jinming is in the middle of the cp2 to cp3 section, where belongs to the no man's land, the mountain shape is steep and the terrain is complicated. There was a dilemma and a lack of necessary supplies. At a windy place, Wang Jinming met five or six participants, each in similar physical condition. Wang Jinming felt his hands and feet slowly losing consciousness, and he could only crawl. Wang Jinming reminded the other contestants to move, "but we all have the heart to do so."
Liu Xibing is a local from Gansu, but also a senior "runner". Last year, Liu Xibing also participated in the Yellow River Stone Forest 100 kilometers cross-country race.
Liu Xibing was in danger in the same place in the cp2 to cp3 section, under the storm, was a wind blowing down, Liu Xibing lost consciousness. Liu Xibing does not remember how he was saved, when he was already in a coma. A video shows Liu Xibing, who was wearing only a running suit, lying flat on the ground and foaming at the mouth. Liu Xibing told China News Weekly that cp2 to cp3 is a steep, rocky hill all the way, making it "harder to go back than to go forward".
Around 8 p.m., Liu Xibing was rescued by local shepherds, and he was among the first of the trapped victims to be rescued.
Complex terrain poses a huge challenge to rescue
At around 3 p.m. on May 22, Jingtai County's Jingshan Fire and Rescue Station received a call for help, and station chief Cheng Wenqing was instructed to lead 10 rescuers in two vehicles to the rescue. Cheng Wenqing told China News Weekly that at that time they did not know what was happening, "just that there is 1 person trapped in the mountain."
Around 5 p.m., Cheng Wenqing and his rescue team arrived at the cp4 supply point. The rescue team was traveling along the route from cp6 to cp5 and then to cp4. From cp6 to cp5, the off-road vehicles could travel on this route, "but when they reached the cp4 point, the vehicles could not go."
cp4 supply point is in a deep ditch, Cheng Wenqing saw a tent at the supply point. Blue Sky Rescue Team rescuers told them that they were out of stamina, and there was heat loss among the trapped people on the mountain. Rescue team with combat clothing, water, rope and other insulation and rescue supplies, continue from cp4 to cp3 to cp2 this line to start the search operation, along with the team set off there is a doctor.
(23 morning helicopter rescue site. Photo/CNN)
The first challenge faced by the rescue team was not knowing the exact location of the trapped people. The area belongs to no man's land, is a piece of unfamiliar territory for the rescuers, can only rely on the marathon course along the beacon flag to indicate the direction of the search. Secondly, communication is affected, Cheng Wenqing said, the rescue workers usually use cell phones to communicate, after arriving at the incident, found that no signal on the mountain. The rescue team specially carried two satellite phones, but the local terrain is too complex, "blocked by the mountain, satellite phone communications will also be affected".
The complex terrain of the local rescue brought great challenges, Cheng Wenqing told China News Weekly, they started from the cp4 section of the rescue on foot, physical exertion is very large, to the cp3 area, the mountain shape is steep, most of the track at the top of the mountain, some of the track next to that is a cliff. And cp2 area, the terrain is even more dangerous, belong to the more you go the more dangerous situation.
The unfamiliar terrain increased the difficulty of the search, although there are local villagers as a guide, but the incident area is often rare, there is no clear place name, can not be accurately located and indicate the target. In the dark, rescue team members finally saw a few figures.
Rescue team members approached and found that in a shepherd grazing built kiln, there are four contestants, beside two local villagers in care. Cheng Wenqing found that only one of the four people have vital signs, the other three have frozen dead, one of them is the domestic cross-country running top runner Liang Jing.
Rescue team members built a fire in the cave, the surviving participants to do the warm treatment, leaving a rescue team to care for the rest of the rescuers continue to search and rescue. The entire rescue operation lasted until 6 am the next day, Cheng Wenqing led the rescue team a **** found nine participants, but in addition to the surviving participant, the remaining seven men and one woman were killed.
In the view of Cheng Wenqing, to participate in such a wild cross-country sports, assault vests and other outdoor warming equipment is necessary to carry, "local villagers said that even if the summer on the mountain, you have to wear cotton clothes." Cheng Wenqing said.
Neglected mandatory equipment
Li Le had participated in the Yellow River Stone Forest cross-country running event in Baiyin City, Gansu Province, in 2019. As far as he can remember, in the dozens of 100-kilometer cross-country runs he has participated in, almost none of the races would have strictly checked the mandatory equipment of the runners, and the inspectors usually just casually looked through it. During the 2019 Yellow River Stone Forest Trail Run, he once ran into a runner who didn't carry a headlamp more than 10 kilometers before the finish line. It was already more than eight o'clock in the evening, and without a headlamp, it was actually very dangerous, "the race party did not strictly require and check the equipment of the runners."
A picture circulated on the Internet shows that compared to the Yellow River Stone Forest trail run's mandatory equipment such as number books, timing chips, electronic tracks, GDS trackers, lighting equipment, water gear, life-saving blankets, whistles, cell phones, etc., the mandatory equipment for a certain cross-country race in a foreign country also includes bandages, physical reserves, windproof and waterproof jackets, and a combination of pants or compression pants and socks capable of covering the entire leg. Moreover, there are clear numerical regulations on the capacity of water cups, calories in physical reserves, the size of life-saving blankets and bandages, and the waterproof and breathable performance of jackets.
Li Le had a horrible experience with hypothermia. in August 2018, he was on a trail run in the Wutai Mountains. At 7:00 p.m., in order to arrive at a section of the road, the whole 18 kilometers, the vertical distance of 1200 meters, all downhill road, there is no set any supply point. On that day, because of the rain and snow on the mountain, Li Le was soaked to the skin. He had just participated in cross-country running for only two months and was inexperienced. The bag is not waterproof, and the clean clothes are wet from the rain and snow, so Li Le feels that he is on the verge of losing his temper.
It was dark and empty. He called the organizers of the event to ask for help, but the other side said, can not rescue, only by his own downhill, downhill can find a cab to send him back to the hotel. Li Le was furious, "I just can't get down to ask for support, soaking wet, and can't find the road." He felt dizzy, and even some hallucinations, but did not dare to sleep or stop to rest, so he had to give himself a boost, all the way to high roar, singing, and finally down the mountain.
Since then, he never dared to travel light, carry the self-supply bag is always full, eight or nine pounds. The bag must be waterproof, put two pieces of 20,000 mAh charging treasure, two headlamps, thick fleece jersey, raincoat and so on. Some runners pursue speed, he only pursues a safe finish.
Runners like Li Le are not many in the trail running community. Whether it's a company or an individual, there's not enough emphasis on mandatory equipment and self-supply. Li Le pointed out that the mandatory equipment reflected, or people do not pay attention to the problem of safety. Both the participants and the tournament party, feel that the race has not been a problem, there is a fluke, "but often this situation, it will really go wrong".
A frenetic industry
Li Le had dozens of 100-kilometer trail runs under his belt by the time he entered the 2019 Yellow River Stone Forest 100-kilometer trail race.
The Yellow River Stone Forest trail run is "relatively simple" in his opinion. In the scenic area of the race, means that safety is guaranteed; cumulative climb of 3000 meters, finished in 20 hours, for him is not difficult. Moreover, the registration fee of 1,000 yuan, the completion of the race will be rewarded 1,600 yuan, he came to Gansu to play a trip can also earn 600 yuan, he did not hesitate to enroll.
At the 2019 race, the weather was hot, with no wind or rain, and people were more concerned about whether they would get heatstroke. The issue of resupply point 3, which was criticized in this incident for not providing resupply and only providing punch cards, did not exist in 2019. At that time, resupply point 3 also provided simple supplies.
Hundred kilometers of cross-country running at that time has begun to "out of the circle", as a senior marathon runner, Li Le immediately switched to this sport. From 2018 to 2019, Li Le almost every week to participate in 100 kilometers of cross-country running, more than a year, participated in more than 60 times. Thinking about it now, he thinks he neither understood the race company's background in organizing the race nor the route at that time, and he was not well-prepared for his equipment. He raced when he arrived in the area and just stumbled all the way.
Li Le later learned that, in fact, many races are small companies hosted, usually cross-country running enthusiasts set up a company, want to organize runners in a classic line run, so with the cooperation of the local government, there is a race. "They turned out to be just participating in the race, no professional training, all based on subjective desire to run the race, how can they do a good job of the event?"
Wei Bi, who has provided many medical support services for various outdoor sports events such as the Everest climb and the Gobi Challenge, also recognized this statement in an interview with China News Weekly. As far as he knows, at the beginning of the domestic part of the implementation of cross-country race company, the boss is also a senior cross-country runners, the organization of personnel planning routes, and then according to the participation of everyone's experience in the simulation of the short and medium-distance 30-50 kilometers of small cross-country running races. Later, after the experience, and then gradually invite more people to participate in, expand the scale of participation, and add more than 100 kilometers of the group, feel the stone to cross the river.
Wei Bi said, about five or six years ago, 100 kilometers of cross-country running in the country is gradually popular, all over the organization of "so-and-so 100 kilometers" this kind of event. In the past few years, the trend is that the southwest and northwest regions, because of the unique local terrain and landscape, as well as beautiful scenery, hope that through the organization of cross-country races to do tourism promotion, to increase their own exposure.
This kind of origin in Europe and the United States of America niche sports, in Europe and the United States have decades of development, behind the supporting security, supply and other basic services have been relatively mature. The introduction of this sport in our country is not long, in the words of Wei Bi, "part of the eagerness to achieve the event, only to learn the shape, did not learn the relevant supporting and inner spirit".
When more and more people of varying levels of participation, what problems will arise in the game, what kind of emergency rescue and protection plan, the domestic organizers are lack of rich experience and unified and refined norms.
Rescue inefficiency is a common problem in domestic races
Wei Wei's medical support team has encountered a shocking incident. A player in the Gobi race, due to run in the wrong direction lost, tournament organizers rescue response is very slow. Fortunately, the player's team through their own efforts, and in the local experienced service providers to assist, and ultimately rescued the player.
In his opinion, the slow response of the tournament organizers in making emergency rescue decisions, the heavy reliance on third-party rescue teams, the complexity of the terrain within the rescue area, the dispersion of the players before and after the event, and the interference of the special weather are all the reasons for the inefficiency of the rescue, which is also a common problem of the current domestic extreme sports events. If a player has an emergency situation, even with GPS positioning, how can we ensure the rescue efficiency and not miss the golden rescue window?
In the longer history of the marathon, after a long period of accumulation, there has been a relatively complete first aid program, professional team and processing measures. The rescue team will assess the risk factor of each stage before the start of the race and make plans for extreme situations. On the other hand, as trail running is a niche sport and usually a small race, rescue is often limited by cost. For example, there may be fewer supply points or insufficient supplies at the supply points. In addition, because of the cross-country running in the country like a prairie fire, some do not have the sports event hosting capacity of the small county also participated, but hundreds or even thousands of people in the scale of the event, whether it will exceed the county level rescue system to bear the scope?
Wei Bi pointed out that, if we want to achieve relatively professional security, in some large-scale events, we need to do 1:10 or even 1:5 response, that is to say, for every 10 or 5 participants, there should be a first-aid personnel. The cost of hiring a team varies from city to city and race to race, ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sometimes, helicopter first aid must be deployed due to the terrain. If the tournament party to prepare the helicopter in advance, it may also require hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. Wei Bi believes that for some small tournaments, running a few years has never been a problem, the medical team is one of the cost of spending the big head, may be lax in this regard.
"In our business, it's a quick fix. Spare time will take up a certain amount of money, no accident can not be used, but if you have a fluke, do not buy this medicine, when you need it, it is too late." Wei Bi frankly.
On the accidents in the Baiyin Yellow River Stone Forest cross-country running, Wei Bi believes that such a large-scale casualty event, it is inevitable that the event organizers of the local extreme weather is not enough to estimate the rescue and suspension of the race and other processes are not decisive, supporting the security system has a problem.
On the evening of May 23, the National Sports Administration held an emergency meeting to further strengthen the safety management of the sports system, and constantly improve the safety risk prevention and control systems and initiatives in the field of sports.
Li Le and Wei Bi both believe that this incident will be a turning point for the industry: the safety issue will be raised to an unprecedented height, the industry standard may also be introduced, and the frenzied market will be "corrected".
(Li Le is a pseudonym at the request of the interviewee)