Zhu Keming revealed that he had been grazing his sheep on Saturday in Gansu, northern China, when heavy hail rain began to fall and temperatures plummeted.

The sudden change in conditions caught runners off guard in the 100km (62-mile) race, and as Zhu sought refuge in a nearby cave where he had stored emergency supplies such as food and clothes, he found a distressed runner.

The shepherd explained to Chinese state media how the runner was escorted into the cave, before Zhu then lit a fire for his clothes to dry and massaged his hands and feet.

An additional four runners managed to make it into the cave. As AFP reported, they told the shepherd that others were trapped outside.

Writing on the popular Chinese social media network Weibo, one runner, Zhang Xiaotao, wanted to say "how grateful I am to the man who saved me."

"Without him, I would have been left out there," he claimed.

The shepherd saved three men and three women, reports allege. But Zhu insisted to state media that he is "just an ordinary person who did a very ordinary thing".

"There were still some people that could not be saved," Zhu said.

"There were two men who were lifeless and I couldn't do anything for them. I'm sorry."

In the fall out from the doomed race, members of the Chinese public have expressed outrage with officials who seemingly ignored extreme weather warnings to go ahead with the spectacle.

"As the organizer of the event, we are full of guilt and remorse. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and the injured," Baiyin's Mayor Zhang Xuchen said at a press conference on Sunday.

With 172 runners going missing, a huge rescue operation of 1,200 helpers was called and the race halted, with many contestants suffering from hypothermia while losing their way on the troubled route with visibility affected by strong hail.