While near-record breaking heat forced the cancellation of the full thing, thousands of Montrealers still braved high temperatures to run several shorter events at the Montreal Oasis Marathon on Sunday morning.
While fall supposedly began on Friday, runners still faced a high of 31 C as they powered through the routes for the 10K and half-marathon.
A 5K and 1K were held on Saturday.
Some of those lining up at the half-marathon’s starting line on the Jacques Cartier Bridge said they were disappointed at not being able to take part in the full race.
“I was looking forward to it for a while,” said Todd Hirtle. “I understand logically it was completely reasonable why they cancelled it, but at least we’ll run the half and it will still be fun.”
Norman Tam said he trained for the marathon for nine months in a bid to get back in shape as “the most far-fetched goal I could think of.”
As the official marathon was cancelled, he held his own on Saturday, running 42.5 kilometers – 300 meters longer than an actual marathon.
“I started from absolutely nothing, so it was really a nine month process,” said Tam. “Every single week, four runs a week.”
Marathon medical coordinator Eddy Afram said 900 medical interventions were required during the day, a number he called “normal” given the high temperatures.
Several of those interventions were classified as serious, with most of them having to do with heat stroke.
A spokesperson for Urgenes-Sante said paramedics transported four people to hospital, while another 20 were taken to a medical clinic at the race site.
- With files from The Canadian Press
