Tokyo 2020 Olympic marathon to be held early morning to avoid heat

Doesnt really matter does it when at 6am it's already 28C with 75% humidity.

What will be the start time, 4AM?

What will be the start time, 4AM?

"The women's marathon on Aug. 2 and men's marathon on Aug. 9 will both start at 7 a.m., 30 minutes earlier than Tokyo's initial plan, while the men's 50 kilometer walk will start at 6 a.m. on Aug. 8"

"Inhuman" is the first thing that springs to mind.

"It will be a risky race."

You reckon?!?

7 am it's 32 degrees good luck with that. Survival games begin.

A 4:00 am start makes just a little more sense, but it should really be run underground, or somewhere in the far north like Sapporo.

7am to avoid the heat and humidty? What genius came up with this? It bloody hot and humid 24/7 at this time of year.

It was 31' in Tokyo at 7am this morning. It's an extremely bad idea because the mornings are still and very muggy. It would be better to hold them in the early evening around 6-7pm. The temps are much lower and there is some breeze. Or, better still, hold the races in late September or early October when temperatures are reasonable. I see many world records being broken in these games. The records for athletes being hospitalised with heat stroke and the record for athlete deaths from heat stress.

Wow... 30 minutes early... and I bet the people organizing it are bragging about how nothing in the history of Japanese bureaucracy ever moved so quick.

Move the marathons to Hokkaido. The high temp in Kushiro today was 18. Maybe poll all the runners and see what they think about pursuing gold and their death simultaneously.

"We are certain that we will see unprecedented levels of excitement in the Games," said committee president Yoshiro Mori.

Yeah, you'll be excited watching them cart these runners off on stretchers, from the AC comfort of your chambers.

Here's JMA's data for August 2 2017 in Tokyo. Click on 前年 to see earlier years.

http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/hourly_s1.php?prec_no=44&block_no=47662&year=2017&month=08&day=02&view=p1

Around 8am, its 27C in a bad year, 22-23C in a cool one.

How about 30 weeks early?

That won't even make much of a difference, the sun rises at like 4:30am and it's over 30 degrees plus the humidity by 7am most of the time. The Tokyo area doesn't really cool down at all at night compared to some regions in the world. The evening would be the best if possible, since the sun sets by like 7pm and a breeze usually comes out

No, hold it later like in October, along with the rest of the 5 ringed circus

pretty much vindication that the Olympics are toast in more ways than one

why not marathon at night when its cooler? It's just pretence and habit that it happens during the day

The thermometer on my veranda says 30.1 degrees at 10:48pm. I won't be running anywhere except to the conbini for a cold one, lol.

No, hold it later like in October, along with the rest of the 5 ringed circus

Nobody apart from the people writing the cheques would disagree with you. Tokyo should 'Do a Qatar' and claim that they tried their best to overcome the punishing tropical heat, but alas we'll have to hold it when it cools off. I still have never heard a logical reason why the Olympics aren't a national event instead of a municipal one.

I won't be running anywhere except to the conbini for a cold one, lol.

If you're going to run there, best get 3 at least

Earlier, how about starting it later. By about 3 months.

Everyone knows it's being held the wrong time of year that's obvious. But even the organizers of the Honolulu marathon know how to keep their athletes safe. The Honolulu marathon starts at 5am. And it's not as hot as Japan in Juy/August!!!

Remarkable choice as the 1964 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo were held in October :)

factchecker:

"5 ringed circus".... perfect!!!! （⌒▽⌒）