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ACSM Heat and
Humidity Guidelines for Races
The American College of Sports
Medicine has produced guidelines regarding how a
race should consider reacting to various weather
conditions. The ACSM has purposely avoided creating a
strict cancellation standard, stating that it does not
want to handcuff a race director; rather it offers
recommendations about the course of action that should
be taken in various weather conditions. The temperatures
in the ACSM guidelines are all WBGTs (wet bulb globe
temperatures). The WBGT is an index that takes into
account heat (dry bulb), humidity (wet bulb), and the
ambient temperature (black bulb, which factors in
additional variables such as reflected heat and wind). A
WBGT thermometer can be purchased from a medical supply
house for about $100. The ACSM guidelines are as
follows:
WBGT >82� F (>28� C) Black Flag:
Cancel or recommend voluntary withdrawal. (Races that
are always held in these conditions should acknowledge
the extreme heat risk to the poorly acclimated and
non-resident competitors in the pre-race literature and
the pre-race announcements)
WBGT 73� F - 82� F (23� C - 28� C) Red
Flag:
Recommend participants at increased risk for heat
collapse withdraw from race and others slow pace to
match conditions.
WBGT 65� F - 72� F (18� C - 22� C) Yellow
Flag:
Recommend participants at increased risk for heat
collapse slow pace. Warn entrants of increased risk of
heat collapse.
WBGT <65� F (<18� C) Green Flag:
Collapse can still occur. Decreased risk of hyperthermic
and hypothermic collapse.
WBGT <50� F (<10� C) White Flag:
Increased risk of hypothermic collapse.
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RESOURCES FOR RACE DIRECTORS