Twin Cities Marathon officials have canceled Sunday’s race from Minneapolis to St. Paul. The threat of heat — with a midday high that could hit 90 — pushed weather conditions to “black flag” status, meaning “extreme and dangerous conditions.”
As many as 8,000 runners were set to compete in Sunday morning’s marathon, with 12,000 more in the TC 10 Mile, and thousands of spectators on the streets of both cities.
In an e-mail early Sunday morning to runners, race organizers read: “The latest weather forecast update projects record-setting heat conditions that do not allow a safe event for runners, supporters and volunteers.”
Twin Cities in Motion, organizers of the event, had telegraphed the concern earlier in the week when the races were considered red-flag conditions — extreme caution for runners. When race conditions are deemed to have reached black-flag status, the recommended action is to cancel the event. TCM’s statement continued: “It saddens Twin Cities in Motion and its partners to be unable to hold races that runners have been pointing to for months, but the safety of participants and the community will always be our primary concern.”
The overnight low Saturday was in the high 60s, with a Sunday midday high near 90 with mostly sunny skies, according to the National Weather Service.
The heat has hit the Twin Cities Marathon before. The 2007 event is the warmest in the race’s history, at 74 degrees with 87% humidity at the 8 a.m. start. That same day the Chicago Marathon canceled its race hours into the event, owing to the conditions.
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