If You Can’t Take The Heat……….Cancel The Race?
05/30/2012 in Running Posts
Where did we go so wrong? Oh, I remember. It was the Summerfest Rock-n-Sole Half Marathon last year. After race directors completely failed, I fear this race has set a precedent from which we will not soon recover. It was hot, the water ran out and runners dropped like flies. Here we are almost a year later and most directors seem to have become terrified at the prospect of an endurance race that reaches a sweltering 65 degrees or more.
May 20, 2025 Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Cellcom Marathon was halted due to 82 degree heat and approximately twenty runners were taken to the hospital. This is what the marathon director Sean Ryan, has to say about you, ”My take-away … endurance athletes are not capable of making rational decisions about whether an event should proceed or halt, or in some cases, make a rational decision whether they should proceed or stop.”
How do you like being told by some presumptuous race director that you are
responsible enough to drive a car, hold a job and raise your kids but you are “not capable” of deciding if you should start a race and just too irrational to decide when to stop? The concept of personal responsibility is obviously something Mr. Ryan fails to comprehend.
May 25, 2025 Madison, Wisconsin. Race organizers decided to cancel the full marathon due to heat concerns, opting to put registered runners in the half marathon. While this race had been cancelled in progress in 2006 and 2010, I can’t help but think the directors were spooked by the disaster at Green Bay the week before.
Sure, races have been cancelled years before the Rock-n-Sole debacle, but this is only May and two major marathons in Wisconsin have already been scrubbed. Do the race organizers fear legal repercussions? Unlikely, we all sign a waiver for a reason and it is 
up to us to decide if we should take one more step toward the finish line. Races all over the country pride themselves on the “extreme conditions” Mother Nature dishes out for their events, but apparently 82 degrees is far too hot to keep water stations supplied after stopping the race in Green Bay. This is a sport! It’s going to be hot, cold, rainy and windy. It’s up to the runner, who paid good money, to decide if it is wise to embark upon the 26.2 mile journey. The very least a race director can do is have enough water and medical staff to accommodate their participants. Can’t do that? Then don’t put on a race in your town. Are you listening Mr. Ryan? Don’t blame the runners for your blunder.
I fear that as the 2012 running season gears up, race cancellations are going to become common. So distance runners, get ready to give away your money in exchange for disappointment. It’s the hot thing to do.
I am about to make a sweeping generalization, so please spare me your comments such as, “I’m not like that!” or “We have never done that.” I realize there always exceptions to any rule. The rule I speak of today goes like this………cyclists are self-absorbed, elitist snobs. I am not the only one that thinks so. Perform a Google search with “snobs” and “cyclist” and you will quickly understand that this is a widespread concept. They have a chip on their shoulder as they race by with their pointy heads and fancy cycling uniforms, all the while thinking they are better than everyone. Let’s get one thing straight cyclists, you are not Lance Armstrong and you will never be in the Tour de France.
They ride in packs on the road that they believe they own and have a blatant disdain for traffic laws. If you don’t believe me, read this 
Finally, last weekend I was running a half marathon where four cyclists crashed the course at the mile nine turn around and expected all the runners to stop just for them. Words were exchanged once again. So please cyclists, for your own safety, I implore you to be more respectful of runners because my patience has reached it’s end. Had the leader of the four from last week been a man the outcome of that confrontation would have been much different. Maybe loosen your helmets just a little to allow some oxygen to your brains.
There are changes in technology every day that help runners perform better and decrease their risk of injury. Camelbak’s help us hydrate, Garmin’s help us train and shoe technology has progressed by leaps and bounds since I wore my old Etonics in high school. But there are also many companies who are trying to capitalize on this by introducing fads and gimmicky products.
from heel strike while running, but spring back for a boost in speed with less energy expended by the runner. Meanwhile Reebok boasts that their Zig technology causes up to 20% less wear and tear on key leg muscles. All I can say is that it is a pretty safe bet you will never see Ryan Hall racing in either of these abominations. Take it from me, using these shoes is the equivalent of painting flames on your car to make it go faster. I’m sorry but a Subaru with flames on the side is still just a Subaru and will not get you to the finish line any faster. So please people, let’s stick with what works and don’t fix what isn’t broken. And as always, remember to run for fun but race to place!
