Runners stung as nest disturbed during race

Ambulance crews had to be called to the popular Spofforth gala 10k trail race on the afternoon of Monday, August 26, after runners apparently disturbed a hornets’ nest.

Several entrants were badly stung and had to pull out of the race, while one who suffered a particularly severe allergic reaction was airlifted to hospital.

A spokesman for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: “We got a call at 2.04pm to reports of bee stings.

“We sent two rapid response vehicles, four ambulances, an emergency care practitioner and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

“We conveyed two patients to Harrogate District Hospital, one on land and one with the air ambulance.”

Kirkstall Harriers member Gemma Rathbone described the events as “traumatic.”

She said: “I’d just had a glass of water at the water station, at around the 5k mark, and carried on across the field when I heard these screams up ahead.

“One of the guys from the running club had done a recce beforehand and said there were cows in one of the fields, so I wondered if it was something to do with the cows.

“Then I saw this woman as I got closer, with all these things flying around her.”

Runner Martin Browne suffered five bites on his head and had to drop out.

“I saw the swarm only seconds before they attacked and they were all over me,” he said. “I guess the noise of all these runners made them think they needed to defend the nest.”