Manitoba Marathon cancelled due to extreme heat; some runners kept going

Organizers for the Manitoba Marathon cancelled the race due to extreme heat Sunday, but some runners refused to stop. Alex Karpa reports.

By Alex Karpa

Organizers of Sunday’s Manitoba Marathon say pulling the plug on the event because of extreme heat was the “right thing to do.”

The annual Father’s Day run was cancelled about 75 minutes after the first runners left the starting line – around 8:15 a.m.

“It was unfortunate but it was something we needed to do,” said Rachel Munday, the Manitoba Marathon race director.

“It was quickly becoming unsafe for runners, and it was important to bring people back to the stadium.”

Heat warnings were in effect for much of southern Manitoba over the weekend, including Winnipeg – where the race was taking place.

It was 30 degrees C in Winnipeg Sunday morning. With the humidex, temperatures hit 37 C. They rose to 44 C with the humidex by early afternoon.

Munday says it was disappointing to cancel the marathon, but at the end of the day, she says safety was the number one priority.

“It’s not just about runner safety, it’s about the safety of our volunteers,” she said. “We have court marshals on the roof that have been standing out there, we have medics out there, radio guys, city crews, police. Even though the runners are hot, so are our volunteers.

“We were looking at safety and asked everyone to get off the course.”

Some runners ignored calls from organizers

But some runners refused to stop, even after the official cancellation.

Despite repeated calls from organizers, runners like Jordan Wood pushed through the heat and kept going.

“It’s not easy at all, it’s a mental game, it feels really good to get it done,” said Wood. “Can’t wait for next year.

“It was the hardest half I’ve ever done.”

Mickael Cazemayor and Sean Chiarella, who have been running the full marathon for a few years now, say this was the hottest event they’ve ever taken part in.

“It’s very mental,” said Cazemayor. “A lot of it is mental. You just run with a good group of friends and that’s how I did it.”

“I do it for my mental health,” added Chiarella. “Ever since I’ve been in recovery, I have started exercising and running more, so that keeps me going.”

Devin Drury says he put too much time and effort into training for the marathon and was not going to quit, no matter how hot it got.

“If you set yourself goals, you can set them for yourself,” said Drury. “It’s only on you to finish them. When you cross the finish line, the satisfaction is worth it, even though I feel absolutely terrible right now. In a couple of days, I will feel good again.”

Volunteer Stacia Franz was helping coordinate a water station at mile 20. She says it was a team effort to get all the runners to the finish line.

“It is a scorcher out here today and organizers knew it was going to be a challenge and we knew it was going be a challenge, so I’m proud to see everyone was doing a great job and keeping everyone safe today,” said Franz.

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