Boston Marathon 2012: Warm Weather Puts Damper on Monday's Race

"This is not a day for personal bests," Pierre d’Hemecourt told the Associated Press via the Washington Post.

One of the race's medical directors, d'Hemecourt confirmed what many were hoping to avoid in the running of the 116th annual Boston Marathon: it is simply too hot.

D'Hemecourt even went as far to say, "Please don’t run the marathon on Monday," to people who are, or have been recently sick. The potential for serious health risk or injury is in full effect today, and it is dragging down a historic race.

A year ago, this was the same race in which Geoffrey Mutai set the record for the fastest time on a 26.2-mile marathon course—the record is not ratified by the IAAF because the course does not meet specifications on start/finish separation and elevation.

Many people acknowledge Mutai as the world record holder regardless, but unfortunately we aren't expecting to see anything close to an encore performance today.

With the temperature expected to rise well into the 80s, runners will be fighting off more than just each other and the clock in their attempt to finish the historic race.

The Boston Athletic Association has already offered a deferment to runners that will allow them to run next year if they choose not to run today.

That option is much easier said than done when considering the amount of training and dedication it takes to run a marathon.

Unfortunately, if there is any history to be made this year in Boston, it will be the rising temperature on the course, and only time will tell how many runners it affects.