The marathon at the European Championships in Munich is the prelude to the athletics decisions – and part of a heated debate. Despite being scheduled for midsummer, the organizers have so far stuck to a very late start time – to the complete incomprehension of runners and the team doctor.
Imagine you have a long, intense and grueling run ahead of you. In the middle of summer, for several hours. And the organizers then choose 11:30 a.m. as the starting time. Exactly when the sun is at its highest point shortly afterwards and the temperatures are among the highest. Sounds illogical, but that’s exactly what the professional runners are confronted with at the European Athletics Championships in Munich – at least as of now.
This raises the question: is there a risk of heat chaos at the first highlight of the home EM? Such scenes should actually disappear or be minimised: runners who suffer and even collapse in the heat are taken away in wheelchairs. The marathon races at the 2021 Olympics in Sapporo and the World Championships in Doha 2019 provided many such images, also to the displeasure of the world governing body Sebastian Coe. The scheduling of the 42.195 kilometer run in Munich was all the more surprising for many participants. At 11.30 a.m. (10.30 a.m. for the women) it starts on August 15th in the Bavarian state capital. Means: In a possible midday heat in August, the athletes are then in the middle of the run or later in the final sprint.
When the schedule was published earlier this year, marathon runner Richard Ringer no longer understood the world. “Then it immediately came to my mind: It’s intense,” he says in an interview with RTL / ntv. Thoughts about the 2021 Olympic heat run came up. There Ringer was best German, but made unpleasant acquaintance with the heat. “In Sapporo it was 30 degrees at the start times of 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. That was extreme. When you saw how many athletes didn’t finish and collapsed – and these are professional athletes.” Then the idea came to him “whether we can’t denounce it and write it down.” A petition was started with other athletes that advocated moving the start time at the European Championships.
Many athletes signed, but the response from the European Athletic Association (EAA) was muted. “The influence of us or the German Athletics Association is very small,” says Ringer. He reports on a letter from the European association stating that only the German association had complained. Wrestlers and co. followed suit, also collecting signatures from international runners. But so far the European association has not moved. A week before the start of the European Championship, the plan is set at 11:30 a.m. On Monday, the interest group Athleten Deutschland announced that more than 50 athletes appealed in an open letter to the organizers to protect the health of the athletes and to move the start to the morning hours.
It is currently unclear how warm it will really be. Can’t say for sure a week in advance. Depending on the forecast, the daily maximum temperatures vary between 25 and over 30 degrees. Aug just.
Hendrik Pfeiffer, who, like Ringer, is taking part in the European Championship marathon, is also concerned about the predictions. “Of course it’s absolutely counterproductive for disciplines like the marathon, because from 20 degrees you have to cool down your body,” he explains. “If you are then confronted with temperatures of 30 or more degrees, then we come into areas where it becomes hazardous to health. Because then there is more at stake than a sporting competition, then there are also consequences that people will fall over and worse happened.”
Pfeiffer signed the petition to change the start time. Like his colleague Ringer, he is disappointed with the reaction. “We’ve tried a lot to get the organizers to give in. So far we haven’t found an open ear.”
The EAA and the “European Championships 2022”, under the umbrella of which several European championships such as the European Athletics Championships will take place in Munich from August 11th to 21st, left a request from RTL / ntv about the reasons and background for the time unanswered until Monday noon. At the beginning of the year, they justified the procedure in a statement. At that time, according to the specialist portal “Runnersworld”, it said: “In view of the start dates, we expect many thousands of spectators along the route and high TV ratings in Munich and want to use this to continue to promote running and thus also a healthy lifestyle.” The health and safety of athletes “is our top priority”. And further: “If it should become obvious on site that the weather conditions could be risky for the athletes, a decision will be made to either postpone the start times, change the date or, in extreme cases, even cancel the races altogether.”
When asked about the time, EAA and European Championships replied that the weather situation had been analyzed using historical weather data. The conclusion: The conditions at the planned times are “acceptable and without any particular risks for the health of the athletes”. Can that be maintained in the coming week if the temperatures should actually climb? Not clear.
It is very possible that the organizers will react at short notice or even have to react. The women’s start at the Olympics was also moved forward by an hour the night before – some athletes were only in bed, reports Olympian Ringer. What annoys him and Pfeiffer: That the late time was selected at the beginning of the year and then stuck to it – although a heat problem in August is quite likely.
“Of course it can be raining and cool. But the risk of high temperatures in August is exorbitantly high,” says marathon runner Pfeiffer. “But I’m still confident that in the end common sense will prevail and whatever the interests are, they will be placed behind the health of the athletes.” As an athlete, you wish “that it’s cloudy and not too hot,” says Ringer. “That doesn’t change the fact that the organization overlooked it from the start. You can’t hope for the weather, we’ve now seen how bad it can get.” The whole thing has a “bitter aftertaste.” Because he asks himself: “Who makes these appointments? We want to show our performance. It’s exhausting enough, no matter what the weather conditions are like. Above 22 degrees you have a higher heart rate and run slower. At that time it annoyed me quite a bit. But then I set the season plan to deal with the warm weather.”
The support of the German Athletics Association (DLV) is certain for the athletes. DLV association doctor Paul Schmidt-Hellinger (walking/running areas) is clearly in favor of postponing the start. “From a medical point of view, the petition can only be supported. As a medical team, we are committed to protecting the athletes. There is a fundamental risk of heat illnesses at high temperatures – from heat exhaustion, heat cramps, sunstroke and heat stroke,” he explains on RTL / ntv -Interview.
As a doctor, he has to “protect the athletes and sport should also have a role model function,” says DLV doctor Schmidt-Hellinger. “We are in contact with the EAA and the LOC and have commented on this verbally and in writing, which includes a clear recommendation to move the start times forward as far as possible.” The sun will peak at 1:19 p.m. on August 15. “Exactly when you cross the finish line and the risk of heat illnesses is greatest in the sprint. Not only the start time but also the finish time has to be calculated. It’s a time when every family doctor says that you shouldn’t strain yourself if possible . There is enough science on this. We as a medical team cannot make more than recommendations.”
So while runners and doctors are still hoping for a postponement, they are also preparing for the current start time and increased temperatures. “We’re preparing for it, we’re dealing with cooling strategies. But when it’s over 30 degrees, it’s no longer fun,” says EM starter Pfeiffer. Physician Schmidt-Hellinger explains what possibilities there are for the athletes to survive despite possible heat. The cooling strategies can be divided into before, during and after. For example, by wearing a cooling vest when heating up, which evaporates water, and especially in humid heat “by means of direct heat dissipation through ice or cold water,” says Schmidt-Hellinger.
In addition, the athletes have worked out their own systems, for example crushed ice is packed into hat constructions – this is also practiced in training. Particularly important: Cool down immediately after crossing the finish line, sit in the “cooling basin or the ice barrel,” says Schmidt-Hellinger. Because heat runs can otherwise have serious consequences, up to and including life-threatening heat stroke. This occurs when the core body temperature rises to over 40 degrees and then the first protein chains in the intestine come loose, which can then trigger blood poisoning. Even professional athletes are not immune to this. DLV doctor Schmidt-Hellinger reports heat stroke at the women’s World Cup race in Eugene – at 17 degrees.
There is no limit value in sport that is measured purely as a Celsius temperature. At sporting events, a climate summary measure such as the WGBT index (wet-bulb globe temperature) is used. used, explains Schmidt-Hellinger. It is comparable to the “felt temperature”. Everything is measured in it: air temperature, wind, humidity and solar radiation – the measuring device has a black metal ball and absorbs any heat, a weather ball. “In sport, the limit here is 27.5 degrees – but that’s difficult to convert to the normal Celsius air temperature in the shade. It corresponds to around 30 degrees and 35 percent humidity.”
Instead of a heat index and the consequences of heat, the German starters would rather talk about sport. Because at the home EM they calculate a lot – especially in the team ranking. “I think we’re in a better position than ever before in the German marathon area and I believe that we have a realistic chance of competing for medals. The other teams are also strong, Spain, Israel and France are my main focus “, says Pfeiffer (best time: 2:10:18). A coup is also possible in singles. The German record holder Amanal Petros starts with his best time of 2:06:27 as one of the favorites.
Ringer (2:08:49) is also in the top 10 with his time. “You look ahead,” he says. “I’ve already won two medals at European Championships. And I still have something to make up for. In Berlin 2018 I got out for the first and only time over 10,000 meters as the fastest of the year. It would be a dream if I could attack here at home.” The dreams, ambitions and excitement are great. The race for the start time is almost as exciting as the fight for the marathon medals.