COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The Cap City Half Marathon begins at 8am Saturday morning, where at least 40,000 people are expected to gather throughout the course to cheer on the 14,000 runners and walkers as they cross the finish line.
On Friday, organizers said they think it’s too early to call the race if severe weather rolls through, but state they have a very detailed weather policy in place.
Runner Amber Decker is more worried about the finish line than the race.
“No, it’s the 13.1 that worries me,” she said. “I’m ok to run in the rain, that’s fine.”
Brent LaLonde, marketing director for the race, says a flag warning system is used at the races and can be seen at each station throughout the course so runners know what to expect ahead.
“If we have to close the course then we change the flags and we get people off the course,” he said. “(It’s) very rare in the running industry. Fortunately, we never had to do that in the past and we’re very hopeful that we don’t have to do that (Saturday).”
LaLonde also says it’s rare to cancel a race and they do check with the weather and medical team to make the decision on Saturday morning.
The race is expected to end around 12:30 pm if there are no delays. Any visible lightning will cause the race to be postponed for a minimum of 30 minutes.
For more information, visit http://www.capitalcityhalfmarathon.com/medical.shtml#weather.