Why Aren't You Sleeping? You Have a Race to Run in 10 Hours!

We know we can't control the weather, but sometimes it's almost as though we think by studying it we are having an influence. We aren't. Of course. Whatever is going to be will be. And that's a beautiful thing, that truth; it's timeless, as much the case now as it was a thousand years ago. So no matter what the meteorologists, in consultation with their computer models, say, tomorrow is going to unfold just as it damn well pleases. And all of us at the starting line at 7 a.m. in Folsom, we'll deal with it, like we always do.

All right, all right, enough philosophizing.

The final forecast isn't a lot different than what we've been thinking for a few days now.

• Right around freezing at the start.
• Some light southeast winds in the first hour, under a rising sun that will begin to give way to increasing clouds.
• Winds picking up as the morning wears on, to 5-10 mph, and turning more directly from the south. Temps will rise slowly; if you're an under-three-hour marathoner, you may do this entire race in temperatures under 40 degrees.
• Closer to noon, the temperature could climb to near 50, but the south winds will be blowing at 10-15 mph, with some gusts even stronger.