"need for speed relay" stopped in progress because of extreme heat!!

was i in westchester or chicago?? all of a sudden it was "deja vu all over again!" i stood there at exchange point 8 with my daughter, katie, and listened incredulously as race officials suddenly announced the need for speed relay was cancelled! within minutes emmy finished the 7th leg and, instead of handing over the baton to me, turned it in to the scorekeepers. it was brutally hot - 92 degrees when i left my house and ran the 9/10th's of a mile to village hall, the exchange site. but was that reason enough to cancel the race?

i was speechless, angry, frustrated, disappointed - pick your own adjective. the situation was worsened by the less than truthful explanations initially proffered. the cancellation was blamed on the threat of thunderstorms, and lightning in particular, we were told! later, the official explanation was found in a press release:

"Due to the heat, the race was terminated early at the recommendation of local health authorities, but numerous teams were already in the final stretch of the 9-leg, 50-mile course, and many racers successfully crossed the finish line. . . ."

the difference between my chicago marathon experience and this one: i had just finished the marathon when it was cancelled - i hadn't even begun my leg of the relay when this event was stopped cold (excuse the pun).


emmy, heading into the exchange.

running conditions were horrendous. our team, "trying to catch the wind," was about an hour behind our projected schedule.


emmy and katie

after the cancellation katie and i ran home together. pat drove emmy back to her car in white plains. we had thought about heading down to new roc city for the post-relay party, but upon reflection, i really didn't have much to celebrate.


exchange site - just before the relay was stopped

apologies in advance for the downbeat tone of this post. in retrospect, the only thing worth cheering about is the money raised to help children of domestic violence. the good work those contributions can accomplish, in and of itself made it all worthwhile!

for more upbeat coverage:
check out emmy's brief race report and photos.
check out anthony's race report and photos.
check out nyflygirl's race report and photos (with links to some of her teammates' race reports as well).

here are the official results (including breakdown by individual legs).