About 70 runners and volunteers were left stranded in the Utah desert for 12 hours after a 240-mile race was called off amid severe weather brought by Tropical Storm Rachel.
The runners began the 241.8-mile course on October 9, expecting to spend four days crossing desert terrain, canyons, slick rock formations and two mountain ranges.
By Saturday night, however, flash flooding had blocked the route near the Bridger Jack Aid Station at mile marker 96, leaving runners and course volunteers in increasingly dangerous conditions.
The floodwater made the course too dangerous to cross, with dramatic footage showing several runners trying to navigate fast-moving, deep water.
The group returned to the aid station, where they were provided with shelter, warmth, food and drinking water for the night.
Conditions remained hazardous by Sunday morning, and with other sections of the route also becoming unsafe, organizers Destination Trail canceled the race.
Brian Hamilton, one of the competitors, shared a photograph of himself and several other runners sheltering together beneath foil blankets as the weather deteriorated.
Hamilton, an Oregonian, had taken part in the Moab 240 six times but completed the course on four occasions, he told Fox 13 Now. He had hoped to finish the race for a fifth time last weekend, but the storm brought that attempt to an early end.
Flash flooding linked to Tropical Storm Rachel forced runners to spend the night at an aid station near mile marker 96. Brian Hamilton, pictured at the front, was among them
Around 70 runners and volunteers were stranded in the Utah desert for 12 hours after the 240-mile race was canceled while underway
“I’ve never been hit in the head so hard by rain before. I had a very high-end rain jacket on with my hat on, put the hood [on], and it was hurting me,” he told the outlet.
“We had to stay the night in the windy rain hoping the tents would not blow away and huddled in our emergency tinfoil bivvy bags. So glad I always carry one,” he later wrote on Facebook, where he posted more photographs from the event.
“We were in a marginally forested area,” fellow runner Troy Eid told Fox 13 Now. “It was mostly open, and it was high, so it was cold. We were being buffeted by the rain.”
On Sunday, race organizers worked with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office to arrange the runners’ evacuation.
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After enduring the storm overnight, the group still had to hike four to five miles before sheriff’s deputies could bring in all-terrain vehicles. The runners then boarded a school bus bound for Moab.
By 9:30 p.m. Sunday, all of the runners had been accounted for.
“This is not how anyone wanted the Moab 240 to end,” Destination Trail said in a statement. “Runners put months of training into getting here, and crews, pacers and volunteers invested an enormous amount of time and effort into supporting them. Destination Trail is deeply disappointed for everyone involved.”
A woman steadies herself against strong winds while making her way along the course
Another participant attempts to cross fast-moving floodwater
A runner climbs steep terrain as severe weather sweeps across the course
Participants have to hike through two mountain ranges and up stick rock on the course
In California, Tropical Storm Rachel brought devastating destruction, while it brought flooding to Utah
It is unclear how many participants started the race.
Our News Outlet has reached out to Destination Trail for comment.
Tropical Storm Rachel caused the Baker Dam and Santa Clara River in Utah to overflow as the state saw flash flooding.
In California, the storm battered waterfront properties as pricey homes collapsed into the monstrous waves.
The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning on Friday afternoon for Los Angeles County beaches until 3pm on Sunday, as forecasters expected waves reaching four to seven feet.
