This Runner's World story features an infamous White Rock Lake event held each August.
Last August, on one of summer’s most sizzling days, something like 1500 (arguably mentally unstable) people ran a half marathon, 13.1 miles, beginning at Norbuck Park near White Rock Lake.
A writer for Runner’s World magazine flew in from Long Island, NY to test an array of fancy new gear intended to make exercise in extreme heat safer and easier.
A big fan of Runner’s World, I really wanted to introduce myself to the writer John Hanc following the 2010 race, but I just couldn’t seem to peel myself away from the industrial fans placed under a tent near the finish line. It was hot — 90 degrees at the start and the temps kept crawling up. Hanc sported the number 108, which represents the record high in Dallas in August.
A year later, the story appears in the publication’s August 2011 issue. Turns out that despite his access to a high-tech cooling vest and a personal assistant (Dallasite Matt Ganio, a Ph.D. and researcher at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at UT Southwestern) to track his hydration and core body temperature, among other aids, Hanc suffered from dehydration and mild heat exhaustion and finished five minutes short of his goal time. This is fun, isn’t it? Here’s is the digital version of the story — it contains essential information about staying safe outdoors in the extreme heat, which appears to have settled in our neck of the woods.
The Hottest Half 2011 is slated to begin at 8 a.m. August 14 at Norbuck, Northwest Highway and Buckner.
