Heat proves to be hurdle for some of the runners
‘Folks have been feeling it really early, even a few miles in. A few of the runners felt it immediately. They felt this was different; they could tell this was too hot for them.’
DR. JACOB KOSHY, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physician at the Marathon medical tent in Wellesley
With temperatures reaching up to 70 degrees and sunny skies over much of the Boston Marathon’s course, runners Monday endured chafing, dehydration, and lots of sweat.
The Boston Athletic Association said 77 runners had been taken to local hospitals as of 6 p.m. Monday, though the organization did not state how many of those visits were heat related. The organization said it had 1,900 medical volunteers working at 30 stations along the Marathon route.
The medical tent in Wellesley, just down the road from the halfway mark, had treated 80 runners as of 2:30 p.m., according to Dr. Jacob Koshy of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The heat took a toll on some runners, Koshy said, with a handful dropping out halfway because of dehydration and overheating. Koshy estimated that around 15 to 20 of the runners he triaged stopped the race early.
“Folks have been feeling it really early, even a few miles in,” Koshy said. “A few of the runners felt it immediately. They felt this was different; they could tell this was too hot for them.”
Runners who dropped out were offered a bus to the finish line, he said, or called family members to pick them up.
Melanie Mead, station leader at the Wellesley medical tent, said at least three more people had dropped out by the time they closed just after 3 p.m.
Later in the afternoon, volunteers from the Wellesley water station said they noticed an uptick in runners stopping for refreshments this year.
“It was a heavier stream of people; it didn’t stop,” said Peg Pandry, 64. “There were no lulls; it just kept going.”
Up the route, at the medical station just before mile 23 in Brookline, runners were stopping every minute or
two for some sort of assistance in the afternoon — often an ice pack to press against their chest to cool off or a massage for a cramping muscle.
Volunteers stood ready to catch them before they fainted, offering medical attention.
Boston EMS reported 25 race-related ambulance transports along the Marathon route by 4:20 p.m., but it was not clear how many of those were heat related, according to an EMS spokesperson.
The spokesperson said EMS cared for some patients experiencing hyperthermia, but they could not provide specific numbers.
Several runners vomited shortly after crossing the finish line. Around 2:40 p.m., one runner lay on the sidewalk in the medical tent’s shade, breathing heavily.
It was a stark contrast to last year’s Marathon, when overcast skies and a late-day downpour prompted medical personnel to offer runners heat lamps and protection from the rain.
Jose Lopez, deputy chief of the Framingham Fire Department, said the city’s emergency services got a couple of calls during the Marathon for “minor injuries, but none of them were heat related.”
He said runners may not have been especially tired by the time they passed through Framingham, which is less than 8 miles into the course.
Dan Kitti, in town from Chicago, completed his third Boston Marathon a little after 1 p.m., as temperatures in Copley Square approached their peak.
”Hot for the runners, but it’s good for the crowd,” Kitti said, sweat dripping from his chin.
Carly Sedlock, 35, said Monday’s was her seventh Marathon, and the heat took a toll on her pace. Sedlock said her time was about 10 minutes slower than last year.
“It was definitely tough after 15 miles,” said Sedlock, of Allentown, Pa., as she enjoyed a postrace ice cream. “Just slowed down a lot.”
Her partner, Jeremy Taylor, said the sunshine was perfect for him.
”Great weather for spectating,” Taylor said, though he added that the conditions for runners like Sedlock were especially difficult because they had trained through the winter months.
”It’s probably the warmest day that she’s had to run in,” Taylor said.
Daniel Kool can be reached at daniel.kool@globe.com. Follow him @dekool01.
Madeline Khaw can be reached at maddie.khaw@globe.com. Follow her @maddiekhaw. Alexa Coultoff can be reached at alexa.coultoff@globe.com. Follow her @alexacoultoff. Marianne Mizera, Christopher Huffaker, and Nick Stoico of the Globe staff contributed to this report.