According to local weather reports, athletes are in for a brutally hot day at Ironman Coeur d’Alene this weekend, with temperatures expecting to exceed 38 degrees C (100 Fahrenheit).
According to a story posted in Spokane’s Spokesman-Review newspaper, Ironman officials are preparing for the tough conditions by providing additional misting stations, ice and water for the 2,800 registered athletes in the race.
This is not the first time the race will experience such challenging conditions – in 2015 athletes had to endure similar conditions. That year there were 1,711 athletes who started the race, with 376 eventually dropping out – just under 22% of the field.
Despite the heat this weekend’s race promises to be an exciting one as we’re expecting a duel between Lionel Sanders and Sam Long in the men’s race, while Heather Jackson arrives as the pre-race favorite in the women’s race, but will have some fierce competition. You can read our pro-race preview here.
One thing that should help athletes deal with the heat is the early start time – the event gets underway at 5 am local time. The water temperature will also be quite cool – earlier this week it was 67.1 degrees.
Live coverage of the race is available on Ironman’s Facebook Watch page.
