Forums >General Running>Running in Extreme Weather
Resident Sk8r boi
Coldest=30*F just a couple weeks ago.
hottest in recent memory was Cascade Lakes Relay last summer. Upper 90's for two of my three legs that weekend. Brutal, but better than cold all day long.
Whew, some of you run in some crazy weather! I think the hottest I've run was somewhere in the low 90s (F), and the coldest was -14 (with the wind chill; I don't remember the thermometer number). I'm in the Midwest, and this past week has been really cold (today was the first day with a "feels like" above zero in the early morning, when I run). This past Monday, it was -20 with the wind chill, with a severe cold advisory, and my husband asked me not to go out. I didn't mind the extra sleep. =) I'm a slow runner, but I totally feel tough when I'm out running with frost on my hat and face mask and little icicles on my eyelashes.
I don't much mind cold, but wind is the worst. The windiest I've done was in the low 30mph's gusting to 40mph and that was crazy, because it was also about 20 degrees and there was blowing snow that kept pelting me. I had to lean almost diagonal just to run straight, and if the wind dropped suddenly, I'd almost fall over. And somehow, the wind was never at my back.
~Kate
Life is short. Running makes it seem longer.
I have run 15 miles when the temperature was -13°F but the wind was calm and so it wasn't at all unpleasant. Runs in the wind when the temperature is around zero are a lot more uncomfortable. Here in Minnesota you just need to have the correct gear to run in winter. It is not that bad. One of my challenges is to get the lowest product of the temperature (°F) times the miles run. -195 is my PR.
No Talent Drips
Not sure what the coldest I have run in is...sub 0 for sure. Today's run was 13miles--starting temp was 9 degrees with a wind chill of -7. I'm with Spinach--the cold is one thing (totally manageable), but the wind can be brutal.
Also not sure about the hottest--but I'm pretty sure that Boston last year was the hottest i've raced--even though by the end it didn't feel much like a race anymore.
Dei Gratia
Dream Maker
I think 6F is the coldest I have run in (or been in)... I have run in snow.
106f is the hottest I have run in.
I am a Georgia girl. It's pretty mild here.
When I lived in Michigan, the coldest was -40F/C. I was in high school and they canceled school because it was too cold. So I went out for a 10 mile run instead.
Now that I live in Taiwan, the most extreme weather would be the heat in the summer and typhoons. The hottest was probably around 40C (~104F) and the windiest has been a couple Category 2 Typhoons. I haven't run in anything higher than a 2 yet.
Feeling the growl again
-10-15F actual temp, at least -30F wind chill....wind, somewhere around 70mph...
The scariest was when I raced a fast-approaching severe storm 2 miles back to my house...in no more than 10 minutes flat...got the door shut as the baseball hail and 90mph winds hit. A tornado crossed my route <10min behind me.
Electrical storms are never pleasant, but I've been there.
The most painful was some sort of frozen rain/hail mix that hit suddenly with 60mph winds....we had bruises after that one.
We used to do a "get tough" run up an incline steep enough to mandate a cog rail train through thigh-deep snow in sub-zero temps...if you could actually run up all the way you were pretty tough/strong.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
I ran a 20 miler in 5 degrees along the shore in windy conditions. My water bottles froze around mile 15 making the last 5 miles a little interesting. Good times.....
Rebuilding my aerobic base....racing next year.....nothing to see here....move along now.
12-week layoff
I live in the deep South, and as they say, it's not the heat; it's the humidity. That being said, it gets dang hot down here, and stays hot for month after month. I used to run 6-7 miles at 3:30 every day in August through October, while coaching cross-country. It would unusually be about 99 or so at the start of the season, and cool down to a comfy 85 by the county championship.
My coldest run was a half-marathon in Mobile, AL, at 18 degrees. I can't take the high temps the way I used to, but 18 sucked far worse than 99 for me.
Windy runs usually occur after hurricanes...I try to get out as soon as possible to check out the damage in the neighborhood. You get a little cabin fever while waiting for a storm.
That reminds me how I did a little over 7 miles in 5 degrees with a 10 below windchill 2 days ago. My legs had no problems in it with shorts on. But my hands were getting numb with good mittens on. I wanted to do 10 miles that day, but 7 was more than enough.
Good Morning!
I ran this morning here in Minneapolis, it was a warm 9 Farenheit! Much better than the last couple of weeks...
HTFU
Paul J
Good Morning! I ran this morning here in Minneapolis, it was a warm 9 Farenheit! Much better than the last couple of weeks... HTFU Paul J
The 14 Fahrenheit here in Chicago was quite toasty compared to that. My hands were annoying me, the 1 inch of snow was a little annoying too. 10.33 miles was possible though..........If I can trust the Weather Channel, tomorrow is going to be a toasty 23 Fahrenheit At least what was cool about today is part of my run was on a golf course, with no worries at all.
I live in the deep South, and as they say, it's not the heat; it's the humidity. That being said, it gets dang hot down here, and stays hot for month after month.
Honestly, running in that is a bigger accomplishment than in the cold. I have all sorts of gear for the cold. You can only take off all your clothes when it is hot, and there are not enough to take off. The past few years I've gotten worse at taking the heat/humidity...I don't think I will be moving further south.
For Races....................
Coldest February 2010.
Hypothermic Half marathon. The route is all hills and mostly open to the ocean. It was windy and blowing
snow the entire time, low visibilty and -15F with the wind chill. The last 1/2 mile is up a very steep hill to the
finish. I would have cried at that point but I didn't have the energy.
It was my slowest half at 2:18 and I was cold ever single second of it.
Hottest August 2011.
Just a few hours ahead of a hurricane so the humidity was brutal.
90F with 98% humidity. We were sweating waiting for the start at 9am.
Ran that one in 2:11. But at least I could feel my fingers when I was finished.
For regular runs none warmer but a lot colder.
Strict WTF adherent
Coldest: -7F
Hottest: 105F
Hottest race: 92F
None of those is as bad as 32F and raining. A little warmer and raining is okay. So is a little colder and snowing. But that particular combination is just miserable.