Fatality at Ultra Trail of Haut-Giffre

Xiaofei Xu for CNN:

A runner has died while participating in the Ultra Trail of Haut-Giffre (UTHG) competition on Saturday, organizers said in a statement, amid rough weather conditions in the area.

“It is with great sadness that we announce that UTHG has just learned of a tragic event with the accidental death of a racer,” organizers said. “All our thoughts are with the victim’s family and relatives,” the statement added.

…

The incident involved four runners who fell off a trail due to a slippery track, the local prosecutor told CNN affiliate BFMTV on Saturday.

My heart goes out to the families and everyone involved in this.

Friend of mine Aaron Shimmons was at this race and commented:

.. It was mega wet after a few days of hard rain and then a deluge 10 hours into the race. Never seen mud as bad. Spent 5 hours in a refugee waiting on the all clear to evacuate. I heard there was a lot of hypothermia too.

Europe has seen some crazy weather this spring and as a result several races have had their routes altered or race organization stopped the event early altogether. If this is what climate change looks like for trail races in the mountains, our sport is in for some rude awakening.