Wisconsin (Madison Marathon) 5/30/10

You just have to love summer time marathons...(not!). This was one hot race. At the start of the race it was already in the 60's with high humidity. The forecast was for temps to reach the mid 80's with feel like temps in the 90's with the humidity by race end. This was one time the weather forecast was correct. Most marathons have gone to a color coding system to tell runners what current conditions are like and the status of the race. It usually goes from green (great conditions), yellow (less than ideal), red (dangerous conditions), black (race cancelled). This race started in the yellow which wasn't a good sign.

The first half of the race wasn't bad, rolling hills with lots of shade. By the time we were done with the shade the sun was high above and baking down on us. Runners were slowing down fast (including me) and it was really getting miserable. As the race progressed I started hearing more and more sirens (reminded me of Chicago 2007) and several runners on the side of the road down from the heat. At the 4 hour mark the race went to red conditions and the runners were instructed to slow down and for some even to walk. The official time clock was stopped for awards purposes but the race was still supported which was good because I still had 2 miles to go. I remember looking at some of the runners at mile 25's water stop and many looked like zombies. You could tell that some have never run in conditions like these and luckily I have and I knew to slow down several miles ago. I knew my time was going to suffer but at that point I really didn't care, I just wanted to finish this race in one piece and look forward to my next one.

Overall the course was really good and the people of Madison were fantastic. Many were on the streets supporting the runners with encouragement, and using there garden hoses to spray the runners down. There were many others that also had coolers filled with ice and handing it out to us. They all knew that the conditions were tough and they were doing whatever they could to help us out. It is great to see a community come together like that. In the end I was able to finish, definitely not with the time I set out at the beginning for but that's the way it goes. It's another state down and now I can focus on another double next month. Hopefully the weather conditions will be better but it is summer so I am not counting on it.