Temperatures in the 80s force Boston Marathoners to take it slow; 4,300 decide not to run

Runners pass a watering station during the Boston Marathon in Wellesley, Mass. on Monday. It was the second-slowest Boston race since 1985, as temperatures rising into the 80s slowed the leaders and may have convinced as many as 4,300 entrants to sit this one out.

BOSTON — There are races to run fast, and there are races just to finish. With temperatures hitting the 80s, Monday's Boston Marathon was the latter.

Nearly 22,500 participants braved unseasonably balmy conditions at the 116th running of the storied 26.2 mile race. Organizers stocked extra water and pleaded with runners to slow their pace to avoid heat stroke. Some 4,300 participants registered to run opted to sit out.

"It was brutal, just brutally hot," said 38-year-old runner Jason Warick of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who took an ice bath before the race to cool his body. "Around 15 miles the wheels just came off. Then it was just about getting home."

Despite it being one of the warmest marathons in Boston's history, no serious medical incidents were reported. Hundreds of volunteers stood ready at the finish line to assist weakened runners into nearby medical tents. Temperatures, forecast to hit the 80s, prompted 30 additional physicians to volunteer at the last minute.

Race organizers and volunteers pleaded with runners to put their safety ahead of their competitive drive.

"Today is not the day to run a personal best," said Garth Savidge, rehab supervisor at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, who was helping runners before the race. "Everybody is being a little extra cautious."

Registered runners who traveled to Boston but decided not to run at the last minute will be given an opportunity to register for next year's race.

Susie Eisenberg-Argo said she never considered not running in her ninth consecutive Boston Marathon. The 50-year-old Sugarland, Texas resident said before the marathon that she would force herself to slow down instead — and make sure she stopped for water along the way.

"It's a challenge to back off and say, 'I'm just going to take it a little more slowly,'" she said. "Most of the people here know what they're doing."

Matt Manning finished the race in 2 hours and 34 minutes — a full 10 minutes slower than his pace last year. He said the heat set in after the first several miles.

"It was direct sun the whole way," said the 32-year-old Baton Rouge, La., man. "I was hanging around through 10K or so, then I started to slow down.... I may move to Alaska or something to get away from the heat."

The famously welcoming crowds that line up to watch the marathon did their best to help out the athletes, cheering them on even as they themselves sweated through an unseasonably warm April day.

June Ramlett, 83, has been watching the marathon since she was a little girl. The Hopkinton, Mass. woman made sure to have a good vantage point for the starting line. She drank from a plastic jug of water to stay cool.

"It's really something to see," Ramlett said as thousands of runners hit their stride. "I've watching it for years and it's still very special."