Lake District weather

We spent most of yesterday within miles of the Original Mountain Marathon and I've been interested to review the news coverage. As we travelled back through fairly nasty weather last night, we listened out for news reports on the radio in case our chosen route was affected by road closures. At that point, I recall thinking that the news footage was lacking in the usual hyperbole and judgementalism. I expect we'd be told how irresponsible the organisers and competitors had been, but instead there was a balanced tone of concern about the affected people.

In the end though, the media rose to the challenge with a mild example from the BBC here. I'm sure there will be more extreme examples in the kinds of papers I prefer not to read.

My opinion is that the competitors were experienced and well equipped outdoor enthusiasts. As we heard on a live interview on the BBC News channel when we arrived home last night, each competitor was required to carry kit which would allow them to survive in extreme weather conditions. 

My only reservation concerns the safety of the emergency workers who would probably have preferred a quiet day. I particularly feel for the mountain rescue volunteers who, along with the RNLI (and probably others), should be funded by the taxpayer.