Running News Daily

Weather in Louisiana can be unpredictable, but the Louisiana Marathon has avoided any major issues from Mother Nature since its inception in 2012

Even with warm conditions in 2017 and near-freezing temperatures in 2018, the weather has been about as good as can be expected for Baton Rouge runners.

The 2019 Louisiana Marathon might be different, however, as the city is expecting a roller coaster of a weekend.

“We’ve had great weather for the most part for seven years,” Louisiana Marathon race director Jonathan Dziuba said. “Two years ago, it was really warm and runners don’t necessarily like that. We have emergency and contingency plans in place for warm weather as well as for cold weather, as well as dangerous tornadoes, high winds and lightning and things like that.”

Regardless of the weather, Dziuba and the race production team made sure they could accommodate the injuries that might arise from extra cold or warm weather. That won’t change this weekend.

The high of 66 and low of 35 is forecast for Saturday’s Louisiana 5K and quarter-marathon (that's the good part). Consistent rain and thunderstorms are expected during those morning runs, WBRZ chief meteorologist Josh Eachus forecasted.

The weather is set to be clear and sunny Sunday for the half and full marathons, but temperatures will drop between 35 to 40 at race time.

Dziuba said he's confident the race will run smoothly regardless of the weather.

“I keep hearing (about) this terrible weather, but the weather actually looks fantastic,” Dziuba said. “Other than this rain Saturday, after the races are over, I’m not sure what everybody’s talking about. It looks really good and we work very closely with the National Weather Center. We have direct lines to meteorologists and weather agencies in 15-minute increments (during the races).”

The race production crew takes extra precautions to accommodate the various weather outcomes.

Runner safety is paramount to the Louisiana Marathon team, said race communications director Erin Rosetti, and a color-coded event alert system keeps marathon participants aware of the ever-changing weather conditions.