Funny that my long time running buddy that has run all the TC marathons and planned to run this morning is going out for a long run now that the race was canceled.
Looking at the forecast, it looks like it is expected to be 73 at 10:00 a.m., but 80 at 12:00.
The ten miler could have been safely run with registered ten milers participants only (warm, but not unlike many Spring ten milers) but the Marathon would have been a sh!t show.
Looking at the forecast, it looks like it is expected to be 73 at 10:00 a.m., but 80 at 12:00.
The ten miler could have been safely run with registered ten milers participants only (warm, but not unlike many Spring ten milers) but the Marathon would have been a sh!t show.
Ah fair. Yeah it's been consistent all week.
It seems there was a disconnect between the race organizers and the medical team that made the decision. As of yesterday the race organizers said it was a low possibility and they'd make the final call 15 minutes before the start of the 10 Miler, then the decision was made much further in advance of the race start. It seems they weren't familiar with the criteria that was going to be used so were likely caught off guard this morning.
Also FWIW, what I heard is the cutoff was a wet bulb of 69 (nice)
This is insane. Only in America. Why would you cancel the 10 mile? It says 67 degrees right now and the start is only an hour away.
Do people have any idea what kind of weather the Olympics and World Championships marathons were run under?
I get that people are angry. I'd probably be mad if I were an athlete in this situation. However, this is a numbers game. A mass participation event is different than the Olympics or Worlds. Fit, well-trained people have died in these conditions. As a medical advisor, I'd pull the plug on this race.
The real danger in hot/humid conditions is that everyone drinks more at aid stations, which is fine at first, but then by the time the slowest runners reach some of the aid stations they’re totally out of everything, and then the people who need them the most are in real trouble. Several years ago the Army Ten Miler was run when it got up to the high 80’s to around 90, aid stations in the second half ran dry, and people started doing really desperate things like drinking out of a pond full of duck sh!t. I don’t recall whether anybody died, but medical teams were overwhelmed and it was a total trainwreck.
The real danger in hot/humid conditions is that everyone drinks more at aid stations, which is fine at first, but then by the time the slowest runners reach some of the aid stations they’re totally out of everything, and then the people who need them the most are in real trouble. Several years ago the Army Ten Miler was run when it got up to the high 80’s to around 90, aid stations in the second half ran dry, and people started doing really desperate things like drinking out of a pond full of duck sh!t. I don’t recall whether anybody died, but medical teams were overwhelmed and it was a total trainwreck.
Yeah, the real tragedy would have been if TCIM had to spend more on water. Like how are they going to afford that and still offer $65 five k’s?
What I don't get when these things happen is why they don't move the start of the race to say 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. yeah, it's dark but how hard is it to provide flashlights? And you probably don't even need them in an urban area like that. There are other marathons which for various reasons start in the dark or near dark.
I also think saying, "we'll get back to you in a week about refunds," is ridiculous and shows mismanagement. What does that tell me? Their ability to provide refunds is dependent on an insurance payout. And they haven't applied for that yet. And if they don't get the payout, then they'll have to say "we took the money and ran in the heat."
First marathon I ran had highs in the mid 70s and a late start. It was rough by the end but it wasn't dangerous.
Plenty of other marathons in the area this time of year. Sucks for people that have traveled. But if COVID has taught us anything, just gather money and cancel. People have short memories and will come back and pay even more in the future.
This is insane. Only in America. Why would you cancel the 10 mile? It says 67 degrees right now and the start is only an hour away.
Do people have any idea what kind of weather the Olympics and World Championships marathons were run under?
I get that people are angry. I'd probably be mad if I were an athlete in this situation. However, this is a numbers game. A mass participation event is different than the Olympics or Worlds. Fit, well-trained people have died in these conditions. As a medical advisor, I'd pull the plug on this race.
Which is fine but why didn't they cancel before people paid to travel out there and run? Forecast was the same five days ago. Why didn't they refund the registration fees when they cancelled? Or if they couldn't afford to cancel the race why not move the start up to 4:00 a.m. or 4.30 or something. And then lower the course closing time to 4.5-5 hours? It would've allowed the race to go on for most, minimized the refunds (you could've given a free entry to everyone who got pulled off the course for missing the time to next year's race and got great press out of it). Inquiring minds want to know.
Plenty of other marathons in the area this time of year. Sucks for people that have traveled. But if COVID has taught us anything, just gather money and cancel. People have short memories and will come back and pay even more in the future.
Ah, yes the Grandma's cancelled 3 months out with no refund or deferred entry. But you can sign up next year only for a 15% discount!
People trying to justify this are pathetic. If the conditions are too hot I guess whatever but the fact they’ve been sending out emails constantly saying they expect to run and then an hour before the race they cancel it when the conditions are exactly what has been forecasted all week is what people are pissed about.
This is amateur hour no matter how anyone slices it.
I know this is logistically difficult/maybe impossible…but let as many into Chicago as possible. Weather looks great for that race next week. What a coup that would be on TCM.
Wow, can’t believe I’m waking up to this thread. Someone needs to look in to the Twin Cities In Motion organization. They are a shady group of folks.
This. I totally understand cancelling, from a variety of angles. But not planning for this (e.g., earlier start time) or cancelling earlier is nonsensical if the weather is just what was forecast. I get that we all get surprised by the weather occasionally, but crossing your fingers and hoping the forecast is dramatically wrong is a) a poor numbers game, and b) unfair to the runners.
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