All missing Lake District marathon runners found

LONDON (Reuters) - Rescuers on Sunday located the last of the several hundred endurance runners who had become stranded by terrible weather during a competition in the Lake District, media reports said.

Hundreds of the 2,500-plus participants involved in a gruelling mountain marathon near Keswick had become trapped on the hills by torrential downpours which flooded roads on Saturday.

Many had spent the night camped in tents or sheltering in farms and barns, and an RAF helicopter was called in to help find the final few who were still unaccounted for.

Organisers said despite the awful conditions, the fell runners would have been well-prepared.

"What we've got here are some very, very experienced fell-runners who are very, very well-equipped, which is gratifying," Original Mountain Marathon emergency planner Chris Briggs told the BBC.

"If they've gone up as they should have been equipped then they should be OK."

A report on the OMM's website said the situation had not been as "sensational" as the media reports suggested.

"The idea of self-reliance isn't a popular one in this day and age, so the fact that 900 people are said to be unaccounted for is being presented with the implication they are lost and in trouble -- which is not the case," the report said.

"They are all well equipped and the vast majority will have made their way down off the hills and found shelter -- though they may not be able to get back to race HQ or let anyone know where they are."