Green Bay Marathon halted because of heat

There's two major marathons with similar heat issues, are they under prepared? Do they not have the staff? Are they robbing people?

You can use the "should have prepared more" excuse all you want... you can make that excuse about anyone who runs a bad race.

The point I'm making is that it's not like one or two people went down, 18 people went to the hospital... there's a shit ton of dump races that have out of shape people who run races for the participation awards and don't end up in the hospital.

So while you can arm chair quarterback it from your computer screen and call these people pansies and pussies, the fact still remains that the heat bothered a lot of people, from out shape joggers to elites... when your race has people dropping left and right, you can't afford to say... "well, you should have trained for this heat scenario in the winter and spring in Wisconsin, too bad". It's a liability issue.

At the end of the day, I don't really care all that much and don't ever know why I felt an urge to even post anything. Perhaps simply because things like this give the average let's run sub 17 minute 5k people a chance to knock on the jogging world to make themselves feel better about sucking at the only thing they think they're good at.

Perhaps the common denominator is that the race ended up sucking for a lot of people, whether you were forced to stop or not.

justme wrote:

Race Director needs to take some of the responsibility. A race this size takes in big, big money. One needs to be willing to pay for medical services.

So, the Race Director should have had more hospitals with ERs built?

Giddy wrote:

It's a liability issue.

Darn tootin': It's a -liability- to run races which have unprepared people in them, so that your own ability to finish a smart, slower race is impaired through no fault of your own.

The Boston and Madison examples only go to show that, yes, it gets hot in April and May at those latitudes. And also, that Boston (among many other races) handled it much better.

The reason I care is not to feel better about myself, but to try to nip this trend in the bud, before all races above 70 degrees are cancelled. What needs to be done? Possibly flexible start times; analyzing and publishing the trends of who was injured and where; possibly cancelling the race in rolling waves, rather than barring near-finishers from the end.

One solution might be to leave the start time of the race flexible. If it's going to be really hot, you start the race at 4 AM. If not, start it at 8. Make the call 48 hours beforehand and you should have reliable forecasts available.

NotJustGlobalWarming wrote:

The reason I care is not to feel better about myself, but to try to nip this trend in the bud, before all races above 70 degrees are cancelled. What needs to be done? Possibly flexible start times; analyzing and publishing the trends of who was injured and where; possibly cancelling the race in rolling waves, rather than barring near-finishers from the end.

That's completely fair. And I thought they would do some sort of rolling waves to cancel, not just call it off, especially for the people who were well on their way to finishing.

I agree, I worry that shit like this will ruin races where the temps get a bit hot. It made me rethink doing a full in sept strictly because I don't want to be running 2:45 pace and have the race get called...

I'll concede that the effects of the race being cancelled might cause some problems for future races, and that a strategy for stopping the race should have been planned. However, when the medical director of the race tells the RD that too many people are dropping and it's a hazard... I don't think he had much of a choice.

GB not a marathon wrote:

ask the people that will sue because the people in charge of the race slammed a gate on them at the finish line.

No big deal compared with serious illness or death. I agree people should be able to make their own decisions, but those who sue for anything possible ruin it for everyone. Actually, the courts that entertain those lawsuits are the real problem.

Won't matter in the end for this race. People already pay $140 to run stupid half marathons. The masses will still sign up for this marathon.

You whine a lot.

Look at the disgusting garbage brought on by Dean Karnazes and Born to Run. Too many people running 35 miles/week that want a finisher's medal.

blue water wrote:

Race director keeps his money! Wish i could run my business with volunteer help!

Right, and when are baseball or football games halted mid-game for hot conditions, or cold conditions for that matter? Runners are pussies, at least most of them.

Hi Orville, It's IRWIN I remember running a 25 miler in Griffith Park in the summer along time ago and it was very hot. It was a 2 loop race and they didn't call it after 1 loop. I ended up throwing up at the finish line. How are you doing? I am now retired from the P.O after 38 years.I have been running 3 miles a day for the last 21 days out of 22. I am trying to get in shape for my trip to Eugene for the Trials in June. Are you going to be there? Take Care and let me know.

Hi Irwin,

It would be better if you called yourself Long-time distance runner. You are not old! It sounds like you have been off running for a while. Be very careful in your return to running.

Many of my races were in high heat, that is over 80 degrees.

My log has a 3/4/72 marathon in hot weather in Griffith park. My log shows "HOT"-"Training". I remember seeing Tracy Smith during that race. It was hot but it was not one of the days when I threw up or when my body had to be packed in ice afterward.

I am not going to Eugene or London.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry you are not going to make the trials it would great to see you there.Hope you are doing okay. I hadn't been running much since I retired from the P.O. 16 months ago. I am running slowly within myself and being careful about it. I was hurt for awhile now I am getting better. We have to get together soon. Take care

Furious Five Fingers wrote:

Next thing you know they'll start cancelling marathons because they are too long.

Even the 5k ones?

Oh please, Giddy were you actually THERE? It wasn't a PERFECT day. It was humid and sunny. I was out jogging parts of the course at a slow pace and I was uncomfortably hot. I was at Boston this year too and frankly, it didn't feel all that much cooler. (Not as bad as Boston, but I thought it was warmer than it actually was.)

Even though the actual air temp wasn't particularly high, the lack of shade made it feel pretty brutal. The fact is the medical resources were overextended. Period. They didn't have enough, so they had to call it. Criticize the RD for not having a better plan to end the event or not having a med staff but stop saying things that make no sense.

Is it time for new marathon rules? Perhaps there should be a big shade tree every 75 feet? Or something like that?

Madison was called early in 2006 and 2010. I was at both of them. The humidity seems to be the main culprit. They'll probably call this Sunday's race too. They can't start it earlier than 7 am because of the city permit. I remember years ago someone was on Let's Run looking for a spring midwest marathon and I suggested Madison. Well another Let's Run poster came on and said I was frickin crazy for suggesting Madison because of the chance of heat and humidity. Turns out the guy was right. I don't run it anymore.

And now they are talking about canceling Madison in advance this year. Why not just move it to Saturday, for God's sake, when it's supposed to be 15-20 degrees cooler? People have trained for months for this race, and the RD would rather cancel it than move it up a day or start it earlier.

Outrageous.

lol at this whole thread!

Did you even read the entire thread dip shit? I've been on the side of the RD the entire time, and yes, I was there and finished the half.

What didn't make sense? I conceded that the RD should have had a better plan if he had to end the race, but agreed that he made the right call listening to the medical director.

All this thread has really done is become and advocacy for making sure if you're going to run a race, specifically a half or full marathon, that you've actually done the proper preparation for it.