Smartphone helps find lost runner

Worried about getting lost on a long run? There's an app for that.

Worried about getting lost on a long run? There’s an app for that.

Rescuers in Ireland found a long-distance runner who was lost in the mountains by tracking him through his smartphone. According to an article on the 98fm.com website, the rescuers were able to send the lost runner a link to download an app on his phone, thus enabling them to find him.

“We were able to send him a text message with a link to the App, he downloaded it to his phone and clicked on Go, it instantly told him where he was and send the information back to us. We have software back at our base which displays a map of Wicklow and his location poppped up on the map. We were able to use that then, to get him back out to safety,” Brian O’Doherty, a spokesperson for Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue, told the website.

The runner had been training for a 55K overnight run through the Wicklow Mountains, and somehow lost his GPS device along the way. He was in a remote location, and couldn’t figure out which way to go.

He was rescued by safety volunteers, given warm clothing and assessed for medical issues.

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