A Salutary Tale
Report by Stan Appleton
This weekend’s forecast suggests the first bout of winter is on its way. Lots of newer members won’t yet have had the joy of running on crisp ‘squeaky’ snow under clear blue skies but it’s hard to beat.
Unfortunately it isn’t always like that.
One Saturday last May a dozen of us from Team Nidd set off on our planned 7 mile run from Hebden near Grassington. We’d arranged our high-level route several days before so weren’t put off when an unseasonal cold snap set in, bringing single figure temperatures and easterly winds gusting above 20 mph. I thought I was prepared with my OMM waterproof jacket, beanie, lightweight gloves and I’d reverted to leggings for the conditions. I’d had a decent breakfast and was keen to go.
Sleet was falling as we set off. The wind was in our faces as we climbed up towards the moor so we stopped to regroup in the lee of a drystone wall. Next thing I remember was waking up on the floor with Graham and Hugh saying I needed to get back down. Rebecca’s voice was in the background as though she was on the phone. I couldn’t make sense of what was happening and said I’d be fine if I could only sleep for a few minutes.
Thankfully the guys picked me up and supported/carried me down the rocky hillside wrapped in a foil blanket as best they could. Rebecca had obviously been phoning emergency services and they’d agreed an ambulance would meet me at the road head; it would take an hour or two more if we needed to mobilise Mountain Rescue. As we descended I was fortunate that we had a retired intensive care consultant in our group who was monitoring and interpreting my condition and gave a managed handover to the ambulance crew. He had struggled at times to find a pulse and as having to rely on my Garmin to check it. However, our descent also meant the loss of our phone signal so other runners were relaying messages up and down the hillside, keeping them active and involved too.
The ambulance crew immediately took my ear temperature – off the bottom of their scale which starts at 32C! Those thermometers are more frequently used in fever cases to track above the normal 37C. I couldn’t get my thoughts together as my wet leggings, socks and gloves were removed and several blankets were piled above my foil blanket. After a few minutes my temperature was up to 32 and I was lucid enough to recognise only too well the hypothermia I was suffering. After another 30 minutes or so in the ambulance I was considered stable enough to be driven either to hospital or home. I preferred the latter with the option of continuing to hospital if I hadn’t fully stabilised by arriving home.
I was booked to see my GP on Monday and over the next few weeks I had a whole range of tests including a 14-day ECG and a heart scan. It seems my heart is in perfectly good order but a lifetime of endurance running and walking led to a resting hear rate of just 45, giving little leeway for stress. My skinny physique means my blood runs close to the surface. My age isn’t a factor but I just need to take more care not to trigger a further fall in my heart rate.
I was fortunate in so many ways: that Graham Tinsley and Hugh Beever were strong enough to help me down the hill; that Rebecca Graham had the ‘what3words’ app and an OS Location app on her phone to define and relay our precise position; that Dr Andrew Daykin is a regular runner with Team Nidd; that the Grassington ambulance was on standby just 15 minutes away; that my GP is also a volunteer medic with the Dragon’s Back and Spine Race so she understands the physiology and the drive of endurance runners; and finally that despite the pandemic the NHS rose to the occasion both on the day and with my subsequent investigations.
I had underestimated the conditions, after all this was in May and only 1000 feet up; I should have had overtrousers and better gloves; I found a foil blanket is of limited use in gusty conditions. I’ve had a lifetime of hill walking and running including Cairngorm winter conditions but I learned more on Hebden Fell than in many days on higher hills.
This isn’t about buying more gear. Just try to consider what could happen and stay within the limitations of the gear you have. There’s a reason that long FRA and TRA races have mandatory kit lists, learned from experience and sadly from a coroner’s inquest. So get out there and enjoy the winter but stay safe.