Four weeks from now, the third „Wings for Life World Run“ will unite tens of thousands of amateur and professional athletes alike in the biggest charity running event in the world. On 8 May at 1200 GMT, runners at 34 locations around the globe will run simultaneously, through cities, forests, deserts, along beaches, hills and cliffs. Instead of aiming to reach a finish line as early as possible, however, the unique challenge lies in staying ahead of the so-called Catcher Cars for as long as possible.
There is another factor that can have a significant influence which, of course, is the weather. While advantageous conditions can be used for training in the months and weeks leading up to the main event, „good“ weather is not necessarily something that can be planned on the big day.
Weather conditions during the “Wings for Life World Run” often are as diverse and exotic as the locations themselves. The premiere in 2014 had participants running in sweltering temperatures of 40 C (104 F) in the Indian city of Haryana. It is, therefore, not surprising that the winner there „only“ made 41 km before the Catcher Car overtook him. For comparison, the best global result back in 2014 was an incredible 79 km. The worst combination of heat and humidity, at least in terms of running performance, was reported from the Hualien area in Taiwan, where relative humidity values close to 100 % with air temperatures of 25 C (77 F) both in 2014 and in 2015 proved challenging even for experienced runners.
In addition to heat and humidity, strong winds can also impede peak performance. Runners in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava had to deal with strong headwinds in 2014, when gusts often reached 70 to 80 kph. It was a completely different story in Canada; however, where athletes in the Saskatoon area were well advised to wear hats and gloves with temperatures around -2 C (28.4 F), cold even by Canadian standards for May. People in and near Bucharest in Romania got off lightly in 2014, when severe thunderstorms with large hail stayed just south of the racetrack east of the city. However, shortly after the event was over, another area of thunderstorms caused flash flooding in parts of the Romanian capital.
Storms were again on the cards during the second edition of the “Wings for Life World Run” last year with lightning and heavy rain developing close to the Silverstone area in the UK. Again, runners and spectators were lucky as the worst of the thundery downpours stayed southeast of the track.
To keep informed about developing weather conditions at all “Wings for Life World Run” locations worldwide, use MORECAST and its pinpoint forecasts of rain chances, temperatures, UV index and more!
For all those interested in joining the “Wings for Life World Run” crowd: http://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/