Lindsay Carson’s first race of the season was a hot one.

At 32 degrees celcius before the humidity, temperatures in Ottawa almost led to the Ottawa 10K being cancelled.

Instead, organizers delayed the start 30 minutes and installed many misting stations along the urban road course.

Carson finished in 36:52.8. well off her personal best time. But with factors like heat and humidity making an already taxing race even more difficult, some racers were lucky to finish.

“It was a sauna,” she said.

Coming off a foot injury, Carson said she was disappointed in her race. She was the only runner from Whitehorse to compete.

Top female Peres Jepchirdir of Kenya, collapsed just after crossing the finish line. She attributed her collapse to the heat. Jepchirdir finished in 31:28.9.

The top Canadian female was Lanni Marchant in fourth, who finished in 33:25.9.

On the men’s side, Mohammed Ziani, of Morocco won with a time of 28:36.5, while the top Canadian was Reid Coolsaet (30:19.0) in eighth.