![]() “But the first 20K were still okay-the situation was relatively normal.” “When we started at 9 a.m., there were still really big winds, and a lot of people’s hats were blown off,” Zhang later wrote about the race. Everything Runners Need to Know About Hypothermia.She lined up for the start, alongside 171 other runners. But by the time Yan arrived in the park, wind gusts had grown strong enough to blow over signs and race flags. On the shuttle bus to the starting line, at about 5,000 feet, Yan snapped more photos of the desert. For sun protection, she wore a bandana around her neck and a sun hat, its large brim and side flaps protecting her cheeks. Temperatures were hovering just under 60 degrees. By 7 a.m., the sun was still shining, and wisps of stratus clouds hung in the sky. ![]() She threw on long pants, gloves, and arm warmers, and then packed her bag with fuel-electrolyte tablets, energy gels, Snickers bars, and a liter of water. The morning of the race, Yan woke at 6 a.m. “Conquer the Yellow River, chase the Stone Forest throne,” she wrote. on the night before the race, Yan posted eight photos-seven of the desert landscape and one of her race supplies. Yan had never seen the Yellow River in such a stark landscape, and the novelty was exciting. Heading into its fourth year, the race climbed rugged hills and mountains above China’s Yellow River, named for its brownish, earthen color. The region where the race was held consisted of vast expanses of high desert, filled with rocky sections of mountains and dry washes. Yan’s photo of her gear, laid out before the race. The third checkpoint seemed unreachable, and the second was even farther behind her. Save her chin and forehead, she had covered her entire body. The temperature, Yan guessed, was no more than 45 degrees Fahrenheit. She called out, but her shouts traveled nowhere. Yan bumped into at least three more people, all in shorts. To find her way, she followed a vague pattern among the dispersed runners, like a trend line through a scatter plot. Looking ahead, Yan couldn’t find the trail-the wind had blown the markers away, and fog had shrouded the route. There was little vegetation beyond desert scrub to find shelter in. The trail led up a mountainside past steep cliffs the rock and sand of the path had grown slippery now, pounded by wind and rain. Yan was ascending the race’s most dangerous section: a 2,900-foot climb, which would bring her up to 7,300 feet. Yan approached an elderly man whose eye was bleeding. Around her, more dots of neon color covered the mountainside-crawling, lying on the ground, standing but barely moving. There was a mile left to climb before the next checkpoint. She donned long pants and a jacket, and decided to keep moving. Yan was lucky she had brought warmer clothes with her. The bags, if they had anything warm in them, were nearly 20 miles away. But few had expected they would need extra layers: the Yellow River Stone Forest 100K took place in a desert, and in previous years runners had battled heatstroke, not hypothermia. Racers had been encouraged to stow their warm clothes in a drop bag, which they could pick up at mile 39, at the 6th checkpoint. Most of the runners were wearing shorts and T-shirts. It would get colder the higher she climbed. The temperature had been dropping consistently since the rain had started. Why China is Newly Obsessed With Running.
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