richard.torres@heraldbulletin.com

PENDLETON — Wednesday afternoon’s sweltering heat and humidity were hard to ignore at Pendleton Heights High School.

While many of the 22 schools and more than 300 cross country runners assembled for the annual Arabian Roundup grabbed some shade under canopies or surrounding trees, the four scheduled three-mile races — partnered with an overwhelming heat index recording — caused moments of concern.

Due to the heat, the final junior varsity race of the day was offered as a voluntary event — after the conclusion of both boys and girls varsity and a girls JV race.

With a total of 20 runners treated for heat-related illness and six sent to area hospitals throughout the evening, several local emergency medical units came through the high school parking lot to assist the on-site medical staff.

“I sent five to the hospital, and all together there were around 20 that I had to attend to,” said Pendleton Heights head trainer Dennis McCord. “This is very difficult. If it wasn’t for EMT, I don’t know what I would do. I had every ambulance in this area here. I even had Markleville here.”

Coaches and runners attempted to take the necessary precautions prior to event, with hydration the primary focus throughout the day.

“You can’t get enough water in you when it’s this hot,” said Alexandria coach Rachel Young. “A lot of it, too, is if you haven’t run in heat like this, it’s kind of a mental thing.”

Supervised summer practice is one way to beat the heat, according to Pendleton Heights boys cross country coach Alan Holden, who staged several workouts in the afternoon sun this offseason.

“We’ve been practicing at 5 p.m., so we could get ready for it. We’ve been running in this type of deal. It’s been hot the last two weeks. We’ve been getting prepared for it,” said Holden.

“It’s very hot,” added Alexandria’s Brianna Foster, who captured first place in the girls race. “You have to hydrate. Nutrition is very important especially in cross country. I trained a little bit during the summer in some real hot weather. But it still affects everybody. It’s painful.”

For some it was more painful than for others, which brought about a busy day for medical attendees.