Fourteen runners participating in the New Haven Road Race on Labor Day Monday were taken to area hospitals for treatment due to the high heat and humidity, race organizers said.
About 7,000 people were expected to race in the 20K Monday morning.
“Not only did we transport 14, we brought a lot over to the medical tent, we hydrated some folks at the finish line and also fire and EMS from the New Haven Fire Department and American Medical Response were out on the field working with some folks as well," Ricky Fontana, deputy director of New Haven's Emergency Operations Center, said.
This Labor Day marks the 37th annual New Haven Road Race, sponsored by the Faxon Law Group. Three Olympians are registered to run the roughly 12-mile course, meaning the 1998 record of 1 hour and 5 minutes could be broken.
"We will get up at any hour to do a 20K," Helene Feldman, of Cheshire, said.
Steve Mele, of New Haven, has a goal to run a race in all 169 towns in Connecticut.
"I'm trying to run a race in every town that I can. I'm at 154 right now, so I'm up there," he said.
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But the race is more than an athletic competition. It's part of a health initiative in the Elm City Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} – New Haven's Weight Loss Challenge. The city is hoping to document 375,000 pounds lost.
Get Healthy Connecticut also supported the races.
"Well, I've been trying to get healthy lately, so I guess my method is just try and finish it," Arielle Smith, of New Haven, said.
During the race, organizers expect to hand out 55,000 cups of water to the runners on this hot and muggy Monday.
The race stepped off at 8:40 a.m.
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