Powderkeg said:
I would say that's more of an issue of acclimation than anything else. We have old people here too, many being very active. Total population of the area is a bit over 3 million, yet we don't have 300 people needing medical attention for the entire summer, much less on one day.
Yes as I said, I agree that it's mostly about not being acclimated. But you can't compare this to what your population does an average summer day, even if that means to go hiking.
In all these kind of events there will be lots of people who normally aren't this active, and take the event as a challenge that is
much tougher than what they normally do. There's most likely lots of those peple on "Hotter N Hell Hundred" too. But with "easier" events, you'll probably get more people that aren't fit (compared to the level needed for the event). People who have less margin until they "run into the wall". It's much more likely that you can talk your unfit friend into walking 50 km than bicyling 160 km, even though you'll spend less energy on the biking (given that you let it take the same time).
Oh, and I doubt that the medical care was any trips to ER or anything like that in most cases. The most common was probably that they told people to sit down, drink water or some energy drink, and not leave until a doc has decided if they look fit to continue, or if they should stop.
Powderkeg said:
The race is just one part of the total event. As I said, it's a 3 day event, including a 100 mile bike race. The bike race is done in a single day.
And the Nijmegen Walk is only 24 miles more total distance spread out over 4 days instead of just 1. 50km per day for the longest walkers. That's about 10 hours worth of walking at average walking speed. Not exactly difficult for even the mildly fit.
Sorry, I misunderstood it to be 100 miles over three days. So it's a more normal race even though I'd still not call it long. (I tend to compare all happy-amateaur-races with our Swedish classic "Vätternrundan", which is 300 km. :smile: ) If it weren't for the temp difference there, I'd much rather do the 160 km on bike than even one 50 km walk.