Boston Marathon Weather predictions

As the Marathon gets closer, runners spend more time obsessing over Boston area weather on Marathon Monday. New England weather is notoriously unpredictable, but that doesn’t stop people from trying to figure it out.

Runner’s World wrote a good article about Boston Marathon weather in 2013. This was a year after the blistering hot 2012 marathon that baked so many runner’s beans. Weather was a top concern one year after that roaster.

Here is a graph from that article that shows recent race day temps.

The average temperature has trended up over 13 years from around 60º to around 70º. But as you can see, there have been plenty of recent years when the temperature never or barely breached 60º.

Look at the race start temps signified by the green blocks. Most race starts are in the 40s or 50s with only 4 being 60 or higher. Also notice the range of temperature on race day.

In 2004 the race start temperature was 77º but the chart shows somewhere along the way the temp dipped below 50º. In 2007 the 48º race start temp was just about the high for the day. See the Runner’s world article for more on that day.

What we know

We know that in the morning it is generally cooler. As the sun comes up and the race heads to Boston temperatures generally rise.

From experience I can tell you that when you get into Boston you are going to get some cold breezes off of the cold harbor water. When you are running past BC up to Cleveland Circle it may be sunny and warm. Heading out of Cleveland Circle you may start to experience some of these harbor breezes.

It’s a tough time to take a chill. Your energy stores are depleted and most likely you don’t have anything extra with you to put on.

I would anticipate this chill and just know that it is coming. There is nothing you can really do about it.

For the race start you should bring some “throw-away” clothes or a garbage bag that you can wear. If you take the BAA buses you won’t spend a lot of time at the Runner’s Village, but your time there can be cold.

After the first mile you will be warmed up and any chill should be gone.

If it’s sunny and hot, try to run in as much shade as possible

What we don’t know

With the winter we have had in Boston this year, who knows what we will get on Marathon Monday. The temps are trending up but we did have snow flurries in Boston just last week.

A cold front could come through in the last minute. That could bring showers or drizzle: the cold dampness that just sucks the heat out of your body.

It could also be a beautiful spring day with temps in the 50s and a light breeze. With the restrictions on what you can bring with you to Hopkinton, you really need to be prepared and stay on top of the most recent weather predictions.

Runner’s Resources

Here is a link to some weather apps for your Android phone from theDroidReview. These are free to download. Here is the link to the Runner’s World article also. The article is a great read.

Here is a link to Boston’s WBZ-TV on-line weather page. For everyone coming from out of town, you’ll want to book mark this page and perhaps down load their app. Who knows local weather better than WBZ?

• Do you have any tips for first time Boston runners?
• How do you deal with adverse running conditions?
• Do you use “throw-away clothes?”

Run well my friends and have a great race,

Andy