Unpredictable Times
The weather in April in New England is notoriously unpredictable and changes by the day!
Welcome to Tailwind – your daily Boston Marathon weather briefing. If you’re new here, welcome! This our second installment of the daily briefing. Each one takes about 3 minutes to read with the goal of offering you a quick race day outlook for Boston.
Yes – we know the weather changes a lot. But isn’t it best to be over-prepared?
Here’s a quick tip before we dive in today. It’s still chilly in the Northeast and race day can be WARM. Start wearing an extra layer or two on your runs for the next few weeks. This will help prepare your body in case Mother Nature throws us a curveball.
Okay, that’s enough rambling, let’s get into Daily Briefing #2.
Tailwind Tracker
Will there be a tailwind? Yes! expect a mild tailwind.
Temperature at Start: 40°F (4°C)
Temperature at Finish: 44°F (6°C)
Wind: W at 10 mph (16 km/h) — tailwind all the way
Precipitation Chance: 0%
Conditions: Sunny
Humidity: 67%
Race Day Impact:
Similar years at Boston have yielded times that are on average 1-2 minutes faster than the average.
The Good
It’s a great day to run fast. You’re going to have the wind at your back and be nice and cool. It will be sunny but the temperature will never reach a point where it is a detriment to your ability to hit that PR.
The Less Good
It’s a pretty ideal day but if we’re going to nitpick, it’s going to be quite cold at the start so layering will be very important. The sun and wind at your back is going to warm you up so getting that perfect outfit right might be tricky. Don’t forget the shades! And just a reminder, when you get a day like this, it’s easy to forget to hydrate so here’s your reminder – don’t forget to hydrate!
That’s it for the briefing, Check back tomorrow to see how things shift. Now let’s jump back to 2019 for a quick recap of a year you probably forgot about.
If you enjoyed this daily briefing, please pass it along to another runner!
2019: A Little Bit of Everything
Everyone remembers 2018—freezing rain, relentless headwinds, and Des Linden gutting it out to become the first American woman to win Boston in over 30 years. It was a year of survival, with elite runners dropping out left and right and thousands of amateurs battling hypothermia just to finish. 2019 presented its own unique challenges.
The day started ominously, with early waves forced to huddle under ponchos as heavy rain and lightning rolled through. But just as runners settled into their stride out on the course, the storm cleared, and the sun emerged. By mile 10, the combination of rising temperatures and thick humidity left many overheating, a stark contrast to the hypothermic nightmare of the year before. Some found relief in the unpredictable bursts of rain and a strong tailwind in the final miles, but for most, 2019’s test wasn’t about enduring one extreme – it was about managing them all.
One runner on reddit recounted:
Hey weather gods, WTF?
It was yet another reminder that Boston can throw just about anything at you – just like 2019, when we had thunderstorms at the start, unseasonable heat in the middle, and bursts of rain and wind just when runners thought they had it figured out. No matter how much you prepare, the weather will always have the final say, keeping runners on their toes right up until they hit Boylston Street.
Check out maryofboston’s full race recap on reddit with the aptly named title. Sometimes you just can’t win at Boston. Full race report here.
