Search Dripping Springs

July 14, 2014
Temecula Area
2014-031

Written by Glenn Henderson

We got a call at 5:20 PM that an ultra-distance runner had gone for a "quick" 20 mile run in the morning and had not returned by late in the day. Gwenda Yates and I rushed down and picked up the team rescue vehicle and headed out to Temecula and the Dripping Springs Campground. It had been way over 100 degrees so we feared the worst. When we got to Dripping Springs we saw a Sheriff's Deputy talking to a guy in running shorts and had a towel wrapped around his shoulders. The Deputy came over and told us that it was our overdue runner. A great sigh of relief! He had been running and felt that he was becoming a victim of heat exhaustion so he found a tree to get under and waited most of the day until it cooled off and then walked back to the campground. This was a runner that runs in 50 and 100 miles races regularly so he was aware of the signs of heat exhaustion. He was very smart to take the action that he did and probably saved his own life. Gwenda and I headed back to the rescue garage and called other members to also turn around as the mission was over.

RMRU Members Involved: Kirk Cloyd, Glenn Henderson, Mark Houston, and Les Walker.