What was meant to be a “short” 35-kilometre run for Vancouver Island ultramarathoner Allison Tai turned into the first rescue mission of 2015 for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre, RCMP and local search-and-rescue volunteers.
Relying primarily on her cell phone’s GPS and Google Maps to follow her running route, Tai set off on her run on Saturday afternoon from Coombs Country Candy store. Her husband was set to meet her part of the way on the route at about 4:30 p.m.
Tai says she was careful to mark her way using phone’s GPS but somehow managed to get into a maze on Mt. Horner, which is west of Qualicum Beach. She continued to run, gaining altitude and eventually hitting snow. At this point her fully charged phone died due to the cold weather.
Thankfully Tai was wearing the right clothes, carrying a flashlight and a little food. She says she decided to continue running up the mountain — and at the same time warm her phone — with the hopes of getting cell service near the top.
Her gamble paid off.
“I got to the top and turned my phone on and it was 80 per cent charged again,” Tai told Global News.
“Then it rang and it was the RCMP asking me if I wanted a ride.”
WATCH: Allison Tai talks to BC1 about lessons learned from her harrowing experience
Tai’s husband had become concerned and called the RCMP when his wife didn’t show up along the running route as planned.
RCMP knew Tai’s exact location but getting to her turned into a rescue mission because conventional vehicles, including ATVs, couldn’t get access.
Eventually military crew members flew a Cormorant helicopter and used their night-vision goggles to locate Tai, where she was flown to the local airport and reunited with her family.
While the runner says she did some things right when it comes to running long distances at night; there are few things she could change.
“I headed out on a route I didn’t know by myself and just because you look it up on Google Maps doesn’t mean it’s going to be walkable or runnable… I also should have talked to someone from the area to make sure I knew what I was getting into.”
Tai says the military, SAR and police crews were “just incredible people.”
“It’s nice to know that heroes and volunteers that risk their lives to save people that make mistakes like me are out there.”
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