Bangalore will witness its city marathon with more than 5K runners, some debuting while other trying to reach their mental milestones. Weeks of training and hard work will be celebrated at the finishing line. One factor that no one can control but has a lot of impact on race performance is Weather. Few degrees increase in temperature, a slight drizzle with a bit of humidity is all it takes to spoil the hard work that has been put into reaching the goal time.
We have done the research for you, to help you prepare for the worst. And the good news is, weather is typical of Bangalore’s October this Sunday, with few minor surprises.
Sun Rise is 6:10am, just when most marathoners will be back in cubbon. The sky is expected to be partly cloudy. As the sun rises up in the sky, prepare for mild exposure to Sun. Good news is much of the route has good cover, so direct sun exposure shouldn’t be a major issue. Cubbon road stretch will be exposed to sun so watch out for that section.
Based on various met predictions (Accuweather, DarkSky and the Weather Channel) temperature would be 210c when marathon starts, reaching 230c by 7am. Temperature expected to reach 260c by 10am. Half marathoners and slower marathoners, be prepared for higher temperatures and hydrate well towards the end of run.
Source: [Accuweather] (https://www.accuweather.com/en/in/bengaluru/204108/morning-weather-forecast/204108?day=6)
Now comes the real concern “humidity” because of cloud cover and low dew point this Sunday. Humidity is expected to be around high 80s (per Accuweather). European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) says it could be in high 90s till about 7am. This is pretty high for typical October in Bangalore.
So be prepared to sweat it out. Wear light clothing, preferably of Dry fit variety. Take electrolytes diligently, there are a lot of water stations on the way. We suggest to keep salt tablets handy (you can buy them online).
There is very little chance of rain, so don’t worry about what shoes to wear. Pick your favourite shoe you trained with.
Wind is an important factor in some stretches of the course, especially Cubbon Road and M.G road. Good news is wind is expected to be (as per ECMWF) around 2-4 knots (4-9kmph) and wind gusts can peak at 15 kmph and from the east/south-east direction. So lot of nice breeze through the course and shouldn’t have much impact for slower runners. Faster runners should take note however. Here is a quick visualization of the wind direction along with course.
High altitude has definite impact on VO2Max and blood oxygen carrying capacity, which affects endurance over the marathon distance. Bengaluru is about 900m (2952 feet) above sea level, In fact, CBD where the race happens has the highest average altitude in Bangalore. For our marathoners from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and other places might find minor difficulty. Drop in VO2Max could be as high as 5% at this altitude when compared to sea level. That would translate to a couple of seconds per km, a rounding error. No sweat, there is nothing much one can do. Have beet juice, if you are used to in your training and put your best, though beet juice is as good as placebo :-)