xcd wrote:
Still don't get it.
You probably won't ever get it. All this talk about "real feel" is meaningless, and here's why:
First of all, temperatures that are recorded at weather stations are IN THE SHADE. Read it and repeat it. The arbitrary metric of "real feel" and "heat index" is based on adjustments for Dew Point, but it is still based on those IN THE SHADE readings. They are in-the-shade real feel numbers.
The actual ambient temperatures on the ground on a sunny day are much higher than the temperatures recorded by weather stations. MUCH MUCH higher. It's common sense to all that during the Summer it's much easier to run once the Sun sets, even if the temperature hardly drops from the daily high, just as it is much easier to run at noon on a cloudy day than a sunny one.
80 degrees in the middle of the day is much more difficult to run than 90 degrees in the late afternoon/evening when the Sun's altitude is low on the horizon. A perfect example was a few years ago at the Golden League Meeting in Doha where they ran 12:50, the fastest 5000 of the year, in 90 degree "heat". Why was that? Two things, the race was held well after Sunset, and secondly the dew point was low.
The case of Paul Short is easy to figure out. The reported temperature at 10am was 70 deg (remember, that's in the shade) and the actual ground temperature would have been "somewhat warmer," as the Sun's position in the sky is still climbing. But by 1pm the recorded temperature was over 80 deg, but the actual ground temperature would have been noticeably higher given that the Sun was now directly overhead and ambient ground temperature would have been collecting momentum, and that momentum would have continued until at least 3pm when the Sun starts to fall far enough that it is not adding more energy to the ground level air.
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KABE/2013/10/5/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NAThe open races were first at 10am, then the featured college races at 11am (mens race first, then women at 11:45) Then the lower level races, and finally after that 3pm, the high school races.
http://www.paulshortxcrun.com/PSLayer.phpSo you're going from the most fit athletes competing early on, when the ambient ground conditions are best, then progressing to the least fit athletes when the ambient conditions are worst.
Who's at fault her? No one. Weather happens sometimes.