Mini organizers issue weather alert

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Because of the forecast for Saturday, the 500 Festival Committee wants Mini-Marathoners to be ready.

Forecast 8 Meteorologist Angela Buchman said temperatures Saturday are expected to be in the upper 60s at the start of the race, and in the mid-70s by 10 a.m. By the time festivities end early in the afternoon, temperatures will be near 80.

"We have a pretty intensive emergency plan, and a lot of it is just activated when something like this happens," said Megan Bulla, with the 500 Festival Committee.

Race organizers want runners and walkers to be ready to slow down Saturday.

The heat and humidity could make this a good year to consider a slower pace or other precautions to protect yourself from a heat-related illness.

But there are also precautions built-in on the course.

"Because we know it's going to be hot, we know it's going to be humid, we've activated seven different spray stations along the course to keep runners cool,” Bulla said. “We also have a giant fan and cooling system right outside of the track. The hottest part of the race is the asphalt, so once people are leaving, we'll have a giant cooling system at that point too.”

The safety plan also anticipates severe weather. In such cases, runners and walkers could be moved into parking garages and other shelters as needed.

There will be flags posted at each mile marker, with yellow indicating that caution is needed, red telling runners to slow down, as race timing has stopped, and black signaling the race has been ended.