Extreme weather has killed at least 21 Ultra Marathon runners in China

(CNN) – 100 km in northwest China.

The high-altitude Huange Shill Mountain Marathon kicked off on Saturday morning during the summer. But at 1 a.m. local time, the weather changed in Gansu County due to freezing rain, hail and hurricane-force winds, the state newspaper said. Global Times.

The Hong Kong 100 Ultra Marathon marathon team confirmed in a statement on Sunday that the dead included Liang Jing, one of China’s ultra marathon runners.

The marathon team said Liang was the “favorite” member of the Hong Kong Ultra Marathon running community. He subsequently competed in Hong Kong’s annual 100km trail race, finishing second in the last two years.

He also described his family as “one of the best extreme endurance athletes in the world”.

Ultramarathon and suspension of search operations

As temperatures dropped in the Yellow River Stone Forest, runners began to complain of hypothermia, while others disappeared.

The marathon organizers stopped the race and began a search party of 1,200 people. The search continued until the evening.

Most of the contestants wore skinny shorts and T-shirts.

Janet Ng, director of racing at the Hong Kong 100 Ultra Marathon, told CNN on Sunday that she could not comment on the significance or safety of the Kansu Marathon, but said the mountaineering community was “saddened and deeply saddened”.

‘I could not feel my fingers’

A participant Announced To the local post Red Star News: One At one point, I could not feel my fingers (because it was so cold). At the same time, my tongue also felt frozen.

He said he decided to quit the race. The I went back to the middle of the hill and entered a log cabin in the direction of a bodyguard. There were already about 10 runners who had come down earlier, and we waited for an hour in the cabin for recovery. Eventually about 50 runners arrived and took refuge in the cabin.

As of Sunday morning, 151 of the 172 people who took part in the race were confirmed to be safe, 8 of whom were hospitalized. Another 21 people were killed, according to the state-run People’s Daily.

The 100-kilometer running distance is twice as long as a standard marathon.