Hostile Hornets Attacked Over 100 Marathoners in Gifu, Japan

Better watch when you marathon at this time of year - in Japan, anyway. A half-distance marathon in Hida, Gifu, momentarily halted at September 11 morning as hostile hornets Vespa simillima xanthoptera Cameron, commonly known as yellow sparrow hornets, attacked 115 runners along the route - not too serious except for eight who were taken to the hospital for treatment.

At past 10:00 a.m., the marathon organizers had no sooner learned of the incident than they rushed the rescue team to the site for first-aid treatment. Luckily, damages were mild and 8 of the 115 "victims" were taken to the hospital.

The spot where the incident took place was about halfway the entire course near the turning point with a bridge under which a beehive was found full of yellow sparrow hornets. The runners crossing by and over the bridge shook the bridge hard enough to excite the hornets to attack the runners.

This marathon race runs at 1000 meters above the sea level with a variation in altitude of nearly 200 meters. The race that morning was run by altogether 697 runners.

The Vespa simillima has a subspecies known as Suzumebachi or Japanese yellow hornet and is darker in appearance than its counterparts in Korea, Siberia and China. Suzumebachi is aggressive and due to the scale of the swarm so great that predation against it virtually none.

I might mention passing that yellow hornet can be very dangerous to us humans when they attack you in large numbers, so say the elderly.

Designing a marathon course, full or short, now calls for a moment of scrutiny on the population of hostile hornets along the way - bypassing bridges or bushy lanes! (Nathan Shiga)