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Doctors recommend Tokyo 2020 Olympic marathon start at 5:30 a.m.

20 Comments
By Martin Bureau

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© 2018 AFP

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I just don't know where to start with this. If you need to start an event at 5:30am, you should not be holding the event at that time of year.

And if it gets light at 4:30am you're in the wrong time zone.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I think doctors should be recommending that the Olympics be moved to October, like the 1964 Olympics.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

It’s still in the low 30’s at 5:30 am in August.

Yes, I agree it should be started at 5:30am - in late October.

Athletes are gonna die in the Tokyo summer Olympics.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The only sensible solution is to move the whole event to a different time outside the hottest and most humid time of the year.

October would work.

April/May would work.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I think they might consider changing the time once someone drops dead in the race.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Is it another joke ? When will they get up ? 3:30 am ? Then when will they sleep ? 8:30 pm ? If that is the solution, I am sure that all medals will go to Japanese team.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

if it gets light at 4:30am you're in the wrong time zone.

It’s actually the same time everywhere all of the time.

The notion of a time zone is a human construction. If we all used a standard time like UTC, what time should the marathon start?

And by the way, in Finland etc it is light for a lot of the day during summer, forget 4:30

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Makes a lot of sense.

When we were in Nevada, I took the opportunity to talk to an individual working on the exterior of one of the casinos. He told me that in the summer (when it can get over 115 degrees fahrenheit, 46 Celsius), they start work about 4 or 4:30 am, in order to finish their 8 hour day before the hottest part of the day. Since the marathon will not last 8 hours, more likely 4 hours, starting at 5:30 might be early enough to avoid deaths from heat stroke.

Just as an aside, the first person to run the marathon, Pheidippides, was reported to have died from his exertions.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It’s actually the same time everywhere all of the time.

No, it isn't, and it's ridiculous to compare Tokyo with Finland, which is located in entirely different latitude. Tokyo's latitude is similar to Raleigh, NC, USA, so let's compare the sunrise and sunset times on July 1st:

Tokyo. Sunrise: 4.28; Sunset: 19.01

Raleigh. Sunrise: 6.02; Sunset: 20.34

Since the standard time of work is roughly the same, from 9 AM to 5 PM, which one is better do you think?

The notion of a time zone is a human construction. If we all used a standard time like UTC, what time should the marathon start?

Yes, time zone is a human construction, but suggesting Tokyo to use UTC misses the point entirely. I think Tokyo is better on UTC +10, not +9.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/japan/tokyo?month=7&year=2018

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/raleigh?month=7&year=2018

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Try 2:30 in the morning.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

And by the way, in Finland etc it is light for a lot of the day during summer, forget 4:30

Because of its latitude. It barely gets dark, although the days will be contracting rapidly in August in Finland.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think Tokyo is better on UTC +10, not +9.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/japan/tokyo?month=7&year=2018

Excellent post vistula. I might save it as a favourite for the future. Even for JST purists, it should make them think.

Sunrise Today:06:02

Sunset Today:16:46

Hours of sunlight before noon: ~6

Hours of sunlight after noon: ~5

Surely it would be better to have ~6 of light after noon and 5 before noon?

This would mean that the marathon could start at a much more reasonable time.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Do The Hurdle

Yes, I agree it should be started at 5:30am - in late October.

September/October is a typhoon season in Japan

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Japan KNOWS it's going to be a disaster but insists it "cannot be helped" when it is FULLY in the JOC's power to change the dates. To hell with the losses in commercial revenue, we're talking about people's lives! Or, since it's the only thing that will change things here faster than a three-toad sloth's pace, does Japan know how it's international reputation will be, and the record of the Games, if people collapse and die during events due to the heat?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Correction: "Naha has sunrise at 0638 and sunset of 1736" should have been "Naha has sunrise at 0638 and sunset of 1936".

Wipeout - your data about Naha is wrong. Dawn is 5:40 in Naha on 1 July and dusk at 19:25.

With daylight saving, it would be at 6:40 - I think even the people of Okinawa could live with that.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Use the Aqua Line highway and run most of it over the sea and under Tokyo Bay with air conditioning. Or is the scenery of downtown Tokyo more important?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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