In mid-July, New York Road Runners (NYRR) canceled the Brooklyn R-U-N 5K race “due to the heat.” On July 4, Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race just hours before they were supposed to begin in anticipation of “record-breaking heat.&rdquo because of “heat exceeding 90 degrees.” And last October, the Twin Cities Marathon and 10 Mile events in Minneapolis were canceled just hours before they were supposed to begin in anticipation of “record-breaking heat.”
For some races, changing the date is not an option. The Boston Marathon, for example heat records. Seventy-five percent of athletes who record their activities on Strava have also said extreme heat has affected their exercise plans, according to the fitness tracking app’s 2023 Year in Sports trend report. By the end of this century, summer weather could last half a year, Geophysical Research Letters declared A race cancellation sucks, but there are some?
“As an industry, we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t recognize that climate change is going to have an impact on how we operate our events,” says Rich Kenah, CEO of the Atlanta Track Club, which hosts the AJC-Peachtree Road Race.
Race organizers don’t make the decision to cancel lightly. Most adhere to an Other Hearst Subscriptions (EAS), a color-coded classification that broadcasts the risk level of course conditions leading up to and on race day. The levels range from low (green) to moderate (yellow) to high (red) to extreme (black) based on a variety of factors. (BTW, it’s not just running events that adhere to this system, all outdoor events do.)
Back in 2010, the American College of Sports Medicine recommended a ‘‘Do Not Start’’ temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit; according to the EAS, participation should be stopped in black flag conditions—which both Twin Cities and Peachtree reached this summer.
The number-one priority behind cancellation is runner safety, but it’s also about the larger collective. “It does not take much to overload the medical response system—there are only so many ambulances and so many hospital beds—so if we create a mass incident at our event, someone else’s loved one might not get the care they need,” says Dean Orton, president of Twin Cities In Motion (TCIM), the non-profit organization that puts on the Twin Cities Marathon weekend events.
How are race directors preparing for more race cancellations?
In the aftermath of these cancellations, race organizers have taken a proactive approach to understanding how they can be better prepared. “In the past, we would assume green, maybe yellow conditions and have a process to ramp up to red flag conditions,” explains Orton. “This year, we’re assuming red and will scale down if needed.”
What does that look like in action? “From the operational side, race organizers need to be looking at additional services and care that may need to be activated on the course,” says Ted Metellus, race director for the Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards Get Tougher, which is put on by NYRR.
Eliud Kipchoge: 9th at the Sydney Marathon water, enough cups for every runner to take at least two at every hydration station, and extra ice on hand. Peachtree is spending significant money to keep water at the finish line chilled, has added more shaded areas to the finish, and now uses a cellular notification system to send weather alerts in real-time. The NYC Marathon has dunking stations at medical tents to cool athletes down, and recently changed their rules to allow runners to carry vests with hydration flasks (but not bladders). Measures like these are likely to become the norm at races across the country.
But there are also bigger-picture approaches that races are considering. TCIM is working with the two counties that make up Minneapolis-St. Paul on an urban heat study that will record real-time temperatures in different parts of the cities. “Once we get that data, we’ll know where our hot pockets are due to no shade, more asphalt and cement, and no cooling effects coming off the river or lakes, so we can align our medical personnel and support resources accordingly,” says Orton. (The NYC Marathon works closely with a meteorologist to make decisions around race day, and Peachtree monitors real temperatures at different parts of the race to understand what participants are dealing with.)
What does the hotter climate mean for the future of racing?
Longer-term, TCIM is conducting a study with climatologies at the state’s Department of Natural Resources to look at historical heat patterns around the event date to determine the likelihood of green conditions or black conditions moving forward, which would influence whether the date should stay the same, as it has for 40 years, or be changed.
There is precedent for races changing their dates: The Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards Get Tougher was held in September when it debuted in 1970, then moved to October in 1976 and November in 1986, all in pursuit of cooler temperatures (during the 2022 Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards Get Tougher, temperatures reached 75 degrees in Central Park, making it the city’s hottest marathon since the last date change). But “the 10,000-pound gorilla is how do you modify a date for something as big as this?” says Metellus; the 2023 event had 51,402 finishers, making it the world’s largest marathon Shoes & Gear.
For some races, changing the date is not an option. The Boston Marathon, for example, always takes place on Patriot’s Day, the third Monday in April. It started at noon until 2007, when it was pushed up to 10 a.m.; now, waves leave Hopkinton until 11:15 a.m. But “typically, the people that are starting the latest are the ones that are moving slowest,” says Kenah. “Anecdotally, the people moving slower tend to be a little older, a little less fit, and, as a result, more susceptible to heat-related illness.”
At the 2024 Boston Marathon, when temperatures reached 73 degrees with no cloud cover, nearly 9 percent of runners sought treatment at the 31 medical tents along the 26.2-mile course, according to the Boston Globe—mostly for heat-related reasons, with at least 40 runners suffering heat stroke; in total, 126 runners were transported to local hospitals.
while others, like could the point-to-point race start, considering the logistics of getting over 30,000 runners to the start, and would that change the outcome for all runners on hot race days?
“Peachtree and July 4 are forever tied together,” says Kenah. “But there are ways to continue to operate your event if you take a non-conformist approach with heat and humidity as an ever-present variable you need to consider. The first Peachtree Road Race started at 9 a.m.; in the last 10 years, the start has moved from 7:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. (and waves continue to leave the start until 8:40 a.m.). In the future, the 50,000-person race may “need to limit the number of participants so that we can allow them to start and finish in a time that’s safe for them,” Kenah adds.
What can you do about the heat at races and chance of cancellation?
In extreme conditions, some of the onus is on the runner. “It’s important that participants have a great understanding of what their physical capabilities and limitations are leading into a hot event,” says Metellus. “We really push for people to be educated properly about training appropriately, hydrating appropriately, and wearing appropriate clothing, and run clubs and training groups are doing a great job spreading that message.”
But as temperatures continue to rise, event organizers are looking to help runners mitigate the costs of the assumed risk that comes with signing up for a race. All 20,000 runners who signed up to run in the Twin Cities races received a full refund and guaranteed access to the race the following year, and “we will continue to make the not insignificant investment in having insurance that allows us to do that,” says Orton.
Race directors with event cancellation insurance will be “reimbursed either your gross revenue, policy limit, or costs incurred (depending on your policy)” if they are forced to cancel for severe weather, terrorism, or natural disasters, according to Running USA.
Runners can also insure their own registration. “Insurance is out there for many large-scale events, and it’s now something that folks are paying closer attention to, especially coming out of the COVID pandemic,” says Melletus.
NYRR, for example, sells “Registration Protector” from Labor Day Gear Sales to race registrants for select events at an extra cost; if you have to miss an event for a covered reason, you’ll get a full refund (otherwise, NYRR entry fees are non-refundable; the New York Marathon was canceled twice—for COVID in 2020 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012—and runners did not receive refunds).
But weather is still an iffy area—some race entry insurance policies may cover weather-related event cancellations or rescheduling, like Race Roster's Enhanced Refund Protection Program, Races - Places RunSignup’s registration protection insurance, do not.
What else can you do if your race actually does get canceled?
Labor Day Shoe Deals proactive measures you can take to offset that disappointment. If you’re concerned about losing out on pricey registration fees for an event that could be affected by heat, make sure to do the research to see what kind of financial protection is offered.
You can also make a back-up plan—find another event that same weekend or the following one, and decide whether you’re okay with purchasing a second entry ahead of time or if you can wait until the last weekend. Runners who were planning to ended slightly early destination but find out that their race is canceled ahead of time can pivot to a virtual or DIY race at home.
But remember that if a race is canceled at the last minute due to extreme heat and you’re already in that location, that means you shouldn’t run—even if you think it’s not that hot, or that you’re totally acclimated to the conditions. Cancellation is almost always a last resort for a race, and without access to the resources an event would have provided, you’re even more in danger. There will always be another race, ideally with cooler temperatures.
