“It was a war of attrition getting to the finish line and I was more concerned with people’s well-being than actually trying to beat them at times.” These are pretty striking and at the same time shocking words from Paula Findlay, who finished fourth at the PTO T100 in Miami last month. The top Canadian athlete looks back on the scorching heat and high humidity on race day and thus the almost unfeasible race conditions.
Findlay looks back on that heat while many athletes – not counting Findlay, as she is skipping the second race – are in preparation for the next T100 race, which will take place in Singapore in a week and a half and will likely also face high temperatures and high humidity again. “I was not really looking forward to going because I raced in Miami in early March back in 2021 and it did not go well, it was really early in the year and it was super humid and hot,” she speaks of the temperature, which was still 30 degrees late at night, including humidity of sometimes 90 percent. “I might have overlooked the heat and humidity prep required for a race in Florida, because it is hot no matter what time of day you are racing.”
“The temperature did take some of the pressure off, as it meant it was more about survival, and if you got to the end then you would be fine, from a results standpoint.” Findlay was right in that, as nearly half of the women dropped out in Miami. “I felt a little dizzy at points, which worried me and forced me to slow down, take everything at the aid stations and cool down.”
The race was dominated by British athletes: India Lee won, Lucy Charles-Barclay was second and Holly Lawrence was third. Paula Findlay finished in fourth position.
