British man could lose toes after running in Yukon Arctic race

Two athletes, including a British runner from Lancashire, are facing the prospect of amputation after bitterly cold temperatures in northern Canada marred the world’s coldest ultra-marathon.

This year’s Yukon Arctic Ultra, a gruelling trek of 300 miles, experienced delays due to extreme cold. Most nights of the nine-day race saw temperatures dip below -40C. Organisers had temporarily halted the race early on when the cold was so bad that it prevented snowmobiles meant to rescue runners from operating. This year’s event was the coldest in its 14-year history. Only one athlete, Jethro De Decker of South Africa, finished the race.

Nick Griffiths, a facilities manager from Bolton, is likely to lose three toes on his left foot after succumbing to frostbite. After spending five days in intensive care in a Whitehorse hospital, Griffiths, 46, arrived home on Saturday. He has since spent time in a Manchester burns unit and on Wednesday will learn the prognosis for his toes. He is on painkillers and cannot properly feel the affected toes, describing them as “a bit sore”.

The prospects are far more severe for the Italian runner Roberto Zanda. He faces the loss of both hands and feet due to hypothermia-induced confusion, which led him to remove his gloves. He successfully made it six days into the race before the extreme conditions set in. When he failed to show up for a morning check-in, rescuers found the athlete confused and wandering off course – having abandoned his sled and GPS tracking device. Race organisers have called it the worst incident in the history of the event.

“It looked like it was raining, but the air was full of ice crystals,” Griffiths told the Guardian. “The moisture on my eyes froze into lumps. I had to use my gloves to try and pull off the ice because you couldn’t see,” he said. “Everyone I saw on the trail said it was too cold to stop, and they were just going to walk through the night.”

During the first leg of the race Griffiths said his inner gloves had frozen whenever he had removed his hands from his mitts, preventing him from retrieving food or water for hours on end. Griffiths is no stranger to adventure races, having rowed with a team 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

Griffiths raced for 30 hours before frostbite became evident in his fingers and he had to pull out, but he was unaware that it had overtaken the top of his left foot.

Doctors used an advanced treatment to try and restore circulation to the toes, but Griffiths said it was largely unsuccessful.

Despite the frostbite he said he was happy to have attempted the race, having lasted 50 miles of the course.

“To be honest, it was hard to train for,” he said. “We don’t really get cold like this in England.”