Todays Boston Marathon was a bit different than runs in the past. Today, the projected highs for the premium race event were for the mid-80′s, looming to put a heat induced damper on the 22,500 runners attending the event today.
-
The organizers, worried about the heat, offered waivers for folks who didn’t want to tackle the heat, to be able to come back next year, but this is an invite only kind of run where you have to have a certain qualifying time on certain courses throughout the country and is one of the premiere events of the running season.
With that said, around 4,300 folk accepted the deferment.
-
To a runner, when you head out the door in 45 degree mornings, you know that within the first mile or so you warm up enough to effectively feel like it is around 20 degrees or so warmer than it really is. On a cool day.
No telling such on a hot day. And the heat had its way as it hit 87 degrees and higher.
At least fifty folk succumb to the heat, or at least that’s the official tally of runners treated that were taken to hospitals by ambulance. There’s no telling how many others were self-admitted or impacted by the heat from participating in the event.
Official tallies saw 800 folk looking for medical assitance along the course, but how many of those were heat-related, is not known, though I suspect many of them probably were.
Some local ER’s even went into emergency deferrment mode because they became too full.
{ 0 comments }
