The author obviously has not excercised in humid 84 degree weather, ever. Optimal for getting a suntan...
It was neither 84, nor was it humid.
As far as optimal goes, it would be way too much to expect that the conditions could be any better if you go back and look at the historical weather for Beijing.
Didn't it start at 74 and go to 84? I think optimum for a marathon is about 59, not anything in the 70's.
This was not Athens, Atlanta, Barcelona, Seoul, LA (I don't remember Sydney's weather) but it wasn't good marathon conditions. I think Wanjiru's race was amazing and shows that Ritz can run much faster.
I remember hearing a study that found that optimum performance was somewhere in the low 40s. Definitely not more than 50.
The weather played a huge role. Why did Lel break, and Wanjiru didn't? Because Wanjiru is smaller! Smaller guys do better in the heat. The first, third, and fourth finishers were the three smallest guys in the entire field!
Don't challenge Malmo again or he'll ban you.
mcordi wrote:
Didn't it start at 74 and go to 84? I think optimum for a marathon is about 59, not anything in the 70's.
This was not Athens, Atlanta, Barcelona, Seoul, LA (I don't remember Sydney's weather) but it wasn't good marathon conditions. I think Wanjiru's race was amazing and shows that Ritz can run much faster.
Starting temp was 71 and rose to 80. The humidity was low (DP 61 degrees). It was as optimal as you were ever going to see considering the normal Beijing conditions
BTW, Athens had much better condtions. Start temp of 80 degrees and a DP of 54 in the late evening so they weren't under the direct Sun. The difficulty of the course was the big problem.
From the IAAF report:
"But what stood out about today’s performance was that while similar fast times have been run in major city races in cooler spring and autumn temperatures, today’s race unfolded in full sunshine with a temperature of 24 degrees at the gun which warmed rapidly throughout the race to a high of 30." If accurate, this indicates that temperatures rose from about 74 degrees fahrenheit to about 85 degrees fahrenheit during the race.
I don't get my weather reports from IAAF press releases, for the same reason I don't get legal advice from running message boards.
I don't believe that the marathon course consisted of loops through the Beijing airport, which is apparently where your temperature readings came from.
Avocados Number wrote:
I don't believe that the marathon course consisted of loops through the Beijing airport, which is apparently where your temperature readings came from.
Could it vary that much though from the airport to the marathon course? I don't know.
In any event, the weather statistics do not seem to be nearly as bad as what was portrayed by the NBC announcers at the start and during the race. I'm sure it was far from ideal, but it could've been a lot worse. No way Wanjiru would've run the time that he did with a dewpoint in the 70's. I'd bet every last penny on that.
Some cloud cover would have really helped but having clouds plus a low dew point in August in Beijing is probably too much to ask for.
Avocados Number wrote:
I don't believe that the marathon course consisted of loops through the Beijing airport, which is apparently where your temperature readings came from.
Recorded temperatures are taken in the shade, not by some yahoo with a thermometer in his hand in the sunlight (which of course will be higher).
You're struggling. 81 out in the Sun is much warmer than 81 at night, I get that, even the Letsrun crowd gets it.
How many times do you see marathoners taking sponges and carrying 2 water bottles in each hand to pour over their head in optimal conditions?
malmo wrote:
Recorded temperatures are taken in the shade, not by some yahoo with a thermometer in his hand in the sunlight (which of course will be higher).
Yes, I understand that. And temperatures along a marathon course are taken along the marathon course, not by some yahoo who looks up airport temperatures on the Internet.
Letsrunner wrote:I'm sure it was far from ideal, but it could've been a lot worse. No way Wanjiru would've run the time that he did with a dewpoint in the 70's. I'd bet every last penny on that.
Some cloud cover would have really helped but having clouds plus a low dew point in August in Beijing is probably too much to ask for.
Finally someone who gets it. Cloud cover and low humidity would have been optimal for Beijing in August. They got low humidity. That's "pretty much optimal."
For the duration (except the first 2 days) of the Track and Field portion of the Games the weather was extraordinarily beyond anything that could be expected considering the historical record.
When the Beijing Marathon is run in October the conditions are as dry as the West Coast of the US.
no better choice wrote:
How many times do you see marathoners taking sponges and carrying 2 water bottles in each hand to pour over their head in optimal conditions?
What aren't you understanding about the difference between "optimal" and "optimal" as it relates to normal conditions in August?
I saw the Beijing weather report as 81F/51% relative humidity with a dew point of 66. Not unbearable, but not ideal.
There's optimal as in "if I wanted to run as fast as possible, where would I go in the world and what time of year?" and there's optimal as in, "I'm in Beijing in August".
The original article stated: "Conditions were pretty much optimum for the Olympic men's marathon yesterday". I think the point is that they were not. The article did not say for August in Beijing. Why the hell are you even arguing about whether it was hot or not?