Race organiser under critical spotlight on TV

A Hong Kong-based adventure racing company has come under more criticism in an Australian television programme after two ultramarathon runners were trapped in a bushfire and left fighting for their lives.

Channel 9's 60 Minutes painted a grim picture last week of what some of the 41 competitors faced when a firestorm engulfed the 100-kilometre race in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Sydney model Turia Pitt, 24, and marathon veteran Kate Sanderson, 35, are still in critical condition after being caught in the bushfires a month ago. Both have burns to 80 per cent to 90 per cent of their bodies. They were among 11 runners who were trapped in a narrow gorge as bushfires changed direction. Police said the fires had burned in the region for up to a week.

Racing the Planet chief executive Mary Gadams - among those taken to the hospital with second-degree burns to her hands, arms and legs - agreed to be interviewed on the current affairs programme, but later cancelled out of respect and concern for the friends and relatives of the two women who were seriously injured.

The show 'may be based on the 60 Minutes programme which is televised in the US, but it's a much more sensationalised tabloid version of that', said Gadams.

She said she would not comment further on the incident until her organisation completed its investigation into what happened. On the programme, reporter Michael Usher described how 'clear signs of danger were ignored and desperate warnings to organisers failed to get through'.

Heather Scott and her partner, Ellis Caffin, were two of the 11 competitors trapped. Usher asked if they had been warned about the bushfires. Caffin said they were mentioned briefly, 'but not something that was impressed upon us as vitally important or some big danger issue to be very careful of'.