On Sunday October 1st, Minnesota was scheduled to host their yearly Twin Cities marathon. Due to unusually high temperatures, the race was called off just two hours before it was scheduled to begin. This affected some of the Benilde-St. Margaret’s staff who planned on running it or are fans of running.
Physics teacher and cross country coach Tanner Stevens has been running almost his whole life and set a goal to run this marathon. Stevens has run two marathons in the past and was training for the past four months in hope to PR at this marathon. He was really looking forward to running this marathon so close to home and was devastated when he heard it was canceled. “I had woken up early that morning, it was about 5:30. Just hopped in the shower to start my day and then started prepping for the race. When I got the update on my phone from the app that said the race was canceled, my mind was racing with so many thoughts,” said Stevens.
You don’t need to be upset at the system or upset at this, we move forward and work to change things if they need to change, but I’m hoping that the Twin Cities has a plan next year and years after that for if it’s this hot again, I just hope they learn from this and are better prepared for the following years.”
— Tanner Stevens
Minnesota had hit record setting heat the day of the race with extremely high temperatures and humidity. It would have been very dangerous for the athletes to run the race and very risky. Many people are still questioning whether the decision was right to cancel the race. Not Stevens though, he thinks they made the right call canceling it. “My thoughts were that it was a reasonable call. I wasn’t upset that they made that call to cancel the marathon but it was still a bummer that I didn’t get to race. I know I could have still ran in those conditions but it’s important to put all the runners’ health and safety first,” said Stevens.
Stevens considered still running the marathon for fun but didn’t think it would be worth it. He’s taking this whole experience as one to learn from and move on from. For the future, Stevens along with many others are hoping Minnesota won’t make race cancellation so close before it starts. “You don’t need to be upset at the system or upset at this, we move forward and work to change things if they need to change, but I’m hoping that the Twin Cities has a plan next year and years after that for if it’s this hot again, i just hope they learn from this and are better prepared for the following years,” Stevens said.