The Lisbon marathon may not be until next Sunday, October 8, but the warnings start now: with the city of Lisbon on a yellow warning due to the heat between Friday and Saturday, and the forecasts for the next day reaching 35 ºC, the organization does not I do not want anyone to take unnecessary risks.
The day “is not about breaking records” and the best thing will be to listen to and respect your body, hydrating it throughout the 42, 21 or eight kilometers of the day’s race. On this path, the organization will begin to send SMS to registered participants every day warning them of the heat that will be felt.
In statements to TSFThe president of the Maratona Clube de Portugal, Carlos Moia, acknowledged that the organizers are “restless and naturally worried” about what is expected to be a “hot, very hot” day. Runners will need to be especially careful with their water supply, and the advice at the moment is to “do them all.”
“In the marathon, there is refueling every 2.5 km, in the half marathon as well,” and at the moment the main problem that the organization encounters is the Vasco da Gama bridge, over which the middle distance race passes and whose participants do not They will be able to receive bottles of water, for environmental reasons, so that they do not end up in the river.
“Only at the end of the bridge can we and will give water, of course, but there will be two fire trucks on the bridge wetting the athletes and trying to help,” an effort that Carlos Moia describes as taking “all possible supplies.” “.
The start of the race is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and it is no longer possible to change it to an earlier time “because the television, the police and everything is prepared and done” at the agreed time.
Furthermore, it is up to each athlete to listen to their body and respect the training they have done, but above all “when you feel that when your body asks you to go slower, go slower.” In short, “it is not a day for exaggerations.”
Cancellation is out of the question
The organizer does not remember a marathon day “with a yellow alert”, but that it was “very hot” is not exactly new. But life and time play tricks on us and an example of this is the original concern of this marathon: “We thought that perhaps it would be difficult to have athletes because perhaps it was raining and cold. At this moment these situations happen that advance all of us.”
In addition to the marathon, half marathon and five-mile race, all on Sunday, there are two events on Saturday: the family walk and the new generation race.
At the moment, the cancellation of the tests is not on the table, but the organization “remains in contact with Civil Protection.”
The more distant future, especially if it may be necessary to change the usual dates of the event, becomes even more difficult to predict and even makes Carlos Moia laugh: “There are floods everywhere when there shouldn’t be, it’s hot in October and the The end of September is better than the beginning for those who have gone on vacation… We cannot predict it, in March we always have the half marathon and the weather is normally cool, but we have already had very hot days and we even had a cyclone,” he recalls.
Therefore, running and knowing when to do it can be left in the hands of Mother Nature.
Source: TSF
