Late summer heat wave causing problems for Canadians
Thursday, September 21, 2017, 7:57 PM – While fall starts on Friday, the eastern half of the country has been greeted with summer-like heat, and it’s causing problems for Canadians.
The toasty weekend forecast was enough for organizers of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Oasis Montreal Marathon to cancel Sunday’s full marathon. The announcement was made on Wednesday after officials realized Sunday’s daytime high was not going to drop.
The seasonal average this time of year for Montreal typically sits around the 17 oC mark, but Sunday will feel closer to 37 with the humidity, all courtesy of a dominate ridge of high pressure.
“There’s real danger for participants, especially on the marathon side, after five, six hours of running,” Louis Malafarina, executive director of the race told CBC.
Approximately 5,000 people were signed up for the event, and it’s the first time in 27 years that organizers were forced to cancel, the news agency reports.
When the humidex reads over 28, the risk of heat-related illness rises significantly, Dr. François de Champlain, trauma team leader at the Montreal General Hospital told CBC.
According to de Champlain, over 1,000 runners visited the medical tent at the finish line in 2014 due to extreme heat.
Doctor forces himself to sit in a hot car for science, watch what happened
Participants signed up for the full marathon can still run the half on Sunday. In order to skip the peak of the heat, half-marathon runners are scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m., an hour earlier than usual. Runners will be given three hours to complete the race, CBC reports.
Meanwhile, some tenants living in apartment buildings in Toronto say despite the unseasonably warm weather, landlords are turning on the heat.
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