Hundreds of marathon runners were rescued in the Lake District last night after torrential rain and gale-force winds caused flooding.

Mountain rescue teams struggled to find the 2,000 competitors taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon who were spread across the mountains with no mobile phones after the weather forced organisers to cancel the event.

Nearly 1,000 runners sheltered at tourist centres and farms overnight and 300 took refuge in Honister Slate Mine in Honister Pass, one of the highest points on the course.

Roland Thompson, who works at the mine, said: “The weather came in really fast and a lot of them got into difficulty. We’ve been giving them tea and coffee and trying to look after them. Some were taken by ambulance to local hospitals suffering from hypothermia.”

A spokeswoman at Mary Hewetson cottage hospital in Keswick said 13 casualties had been admitted suffering from hypothermia and minor head and ankle injuries. Five mountain rescue teams searched for runners, but RAF rescue helicopters were unable to fly in the 54mph winds.

Runners had travelled from all over the country to take part in the two-day endurance race, which involves pairs navigating their own route and camping overnight. All competitors are required to hand in their mobile phones before starting.

Last night there was criticism of the organisers for letting the event start four hours before they had to call it off at noon. Tony Johnson, 32, from Lincoln, said: “I dont think it should ever gone ahead . . . We all just went along with it because we thought the organisers must know what they were doing.”

Geoff Dimelow, 54, from Sheffield, said the conditions were the worst he had experienced in 12 years of competing in the race: “It was like pebbles were hitting you.”

Last night 700 runners were sheltering at Gatesgarth Farm in Borrowdale and 80 at Glaramara Outdoor Activity Centre. Another 100 took refuge at Cockermouth school.

— Four people were missing last night after a UK-registered light aircraft disappeared on a flight from Gloucester to Co Kildare in Ireland.

The last radar sighting of the PA-28 was at 12.30pm over the Wicklow mountains on Ireland’s east coast. Police said bad weather was hampering the search and a more detailed operation will begin today.