Good lord it's hot in Austin

[trackstar]

As I write this, it's 99 degrees outside, and the heat index is 112. I'm not sure who will get brutalized worse at NCAA -- the athletes, or us fans who will be sitting in the stands from noon to 10pm for four straight days.

Tips (mostly obvious, but worth repeating):
* Sunscreen
*Lots of water and/or sports drink
*Sunglasses (if there are any empty seats around you, the glare off of the silver-colored bleachers can be blinding.)
* A wide-brimmed, breathable hat.
* A stadium seat cushion. Those metal bleachers will get mighty hot.

The finish-line reserved seating will be the worst seats in the house in terms of heat/sun. I recommend getting gen admission and sitting on the backstretch -- the western side, underneath the press box. There won't be any shade until about 4pm, but that will be about three or four hours sooner than the higher-dollar seats. And umbrellas are strictly not allowed.

And contrary to the stereotype of Texas as nothing but desert: No, it is not "a dry heat." It's darned humid here. I just stood outside my office for about five minutes and thought I would die.

[Friar]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

No heats in the 5,10 and run at night [still oppressive]. The 1500 and steeple should be tough though. Maybe they will get the hoses out-is that legal?

[dl]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

Heats in the 5K were reinstated last year with the expanded fields.

[trackstar]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

>No heats in the 5,10 and run at night. The 1500 and steeple should be tough
>gh though. Maybe they will get the hoses out-is that legal?

Water hoses used to be a standard feature in Memorial Stadium for races 2M and longer, but I've never seem them used in Myers Stadium. If they aren't legal, then the rules need to be revised to protect the health of athletes. And don't think that just because the 5 and 10 will be run after sundown that it won't still be dangerously hot.

[EPelle]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

We had water hoses at the GöteborgsVarvet a couple weeks back on an IAAF-sanctioned course. I hope NCAA rules do protect the athletes from being threatened by the heat.

[gh]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

As I recall, the NCAA for years (decades) has had a heat/humidity index that they measure before the distance races, and if it's exceeded, they postpone the race until later in the day.


ps--shhhhh about the seats in front of the pressbox: that's where I wanna sit!

[trackstar]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

>ps--shhhhh about the seats in front of the
>pressbox: that's where I wanna sit!

Pal, you need to be IN the press box, front row, enjoying the air-conditioning. The rest of us are going to look like cows chasing shade.

[gh]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

You can't appreciate a meet from a pressbox. Rarely sit in them (and have the skin lesions to show for it!).

[Cooter Brown]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

Ahhh...6:30pm & 95 degrees. God I love Austin.

At least it's better than yesterday...100 degrees with rain & hail.

[ycn]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

I was in Austin some years ago for a reunion and the day I left here was typical at about 85 degrees with about 15% relative humidity.

Flew into Austin and the day I arrived it was 99 with a dewpoint of 82 degrees. After about 4-5 hours sitting outside in the shade others noticed that I didn't look right. Went inside and took a long cold shower and a two hour nap, then back outdoors. Didn't have any more problems.

Later I figured the heat index difference between the two places was about 65 degrees. According to the National Weather Service, the conditions were described as "heat stroke likely". At least to non-natives. Little did I know...

BTW, flying into Austin was a lesson in heat and humidity. As we descended toward Austin condensation clouds formed in the airplane cabin. When I stepped off the airplane into the extending platform that led to the gate area, my glasses fogged up so much I couldn't see.

And when I walked out through the automatic doors into the Austin air, my glass fogged over once again. I grew up in heat and humidity like that, and having been away from it for a few years, I'd forgotten how intense it can be.

[trackstar]

Re: Good lord it's hot in Austin

>You can't appreciate a meet from a pressbox.

Yes, that's true. But it may be a matter of survival! :-)

Of course, if you do sit in the press box, demand to be on the front row. Myers Stadium's only flaw is that they made the press box too small -- if you're in the second row, you can't see either end of the stadium, only the middle!