Organizers of the 45th annual Manitoba Marathon are hoping this weekend’s event has a better outcome than the 2022 edition of the annual Father’s Day run.
Last year, temperatures in the high 30s forced the marathon to shut down partway through out of concern for the safety of participants.
Executive director Rachel Munday told 680 CJOB’s The Start that the forecast has been watched closely, beginning weeks in advance of ahead of Sunday’s event, and with organizers even working with a meteorologist.
“In a 14- to 20-day window, we would start looking at weather patterns and weather pressure, weather in surrounding areas,” Munday said.
“It gives us a better chance of predicting, typically, what’s going to happen on event day … and gives us a good idea of what additional plans we need to make.”
So far, race day isn’t expected to be quite as hot this year, with weekend forecasts — as of Thursday, anyway — calling for temperatures in the 20s, and potentially some rain.
Munday said a big turnout is expected for both the full- and half-marathon, as well as the 5 km and 10 km races, with thousands of runners slated to take part.
“We’re expecting about 8,000 runners on Sunday morning, through all of our events.
“We’re very excited to have a great day.”
If you want to watch the race, you can find out where road closures will be on the Manitoba Marathon website.