Primack (2013) led a study that shows the effects of warming temperatures on winning times in the Boston Marathon. He and his three co-authors, Dr. Abe Miller Rushing, Dr. Nathan Phillips and Dr. Robert Kaufmann, examined the timing of the Boston Marathon runners from the years 1933 to 2004. They found that when warmer temperatures and headwinds occurred the day of the race, the runners were indeed slowed down. The reasoning for this research was to further their focus on climate change from birds and plants to including how the warming climate had an effect on long-distance running. There is also a trend that shows how winning times in events such as marathons have improved throughout the centuries. Should the Earth’s climate get as warm as climate models predict, then the trend might slow down or even reverse.
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The weather data specifically comprised of temperature, wind direction, wind speed, humidity, wind chill, sky cover and precipitation. Until 2005, the race began at 12:00pm. Every year until April 1969, the race was ran on the 19th of the month. After 1969, it was changed to the third Monday in April ranging from dates April 15th to April 21st. In order to read the data easier, they converted the wind direction as well as the speed into a single variable that had information on head and tail winds. With the wind, they had two component vectors: one that ran parallel to the race course and one perpendicular although they only used the component parallel to the course since it had the chance to show a greater effect on running speed. In addition to this, they used the separate components of wet bulb globe temperature (temperature, humidity and solar radiation). This allowed them to examine how the warming temperature affected the winning
The weather data specifically comprised of temperature, wind direction, wind speed, humidity, wind chill, sky cover and precipitation. Until 2005, the race began at 12:00pm. Every year until April 1969, the race was ran on the 19th of the month. After 1969, it was changed to the third Monday in April ranging from dates April 15th to April 21st. In order to read the data easier, they converted the wind direction as well as the speed into a single variable that had information on head and tail winds. With the wind, they had two component vectors: one that ran parallel to the race course and one perpendicular although they only used the component parallel to the course since it had the chance to show a greater effect on running speed. In addition to this, they used the separate components of wet bulb globe temperature (temperature, humidity and solar radiation). This allowed them to examine how the warming temperature affected the winning