I'm in Bydgoszcz for World XC and all of Poland including the course is covered in snow. The forecast is now for a high of 0 Celsius (32 F) on raceday. That's much better than the rumor I heard of -14 on Sunday. A huge snow storm is also going to hit Eastern Europe this weekend, but fortunately for the racers it's going to hit east of Poland.
I'm excited to see what happens in the elements.
In 2007, World XC was in Mombasa, Kenya and it was stifling hot and humid. Think Houston in the middle of the summer. Runners were passing out and being dropped into ice baths. Randy Wilbur the USOC scientist remarked to me that he was surprised no one died. I thought it was crazy they were just dumping the runners into ice baths, but supposedly lowering the core body temperature is the best way to make sure there isn't long-term damage.
So I started another thread here on what the craziest weather you've ever raced in was here:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5098860
This thread is for what the craziest weather for a World XC was. I'll need some help from some of the older guys.
Off the top of my head:
2007 heat Kenya (LRC recap of the madness here. I guarantee there is never a race like this one again:
http://www.letsrun.com/2007/worldscrosscountryrecap2425.php
)
1993 snow in Boston (article here:
http://www.nerunner.com/Media/PublishingTitles/Feat92World_0221upld.pdf
)
2001 when Ritz got a bronze it was very muddy.
What else do you remember?