Chilly Cowtowners braving the elements at the starting line.
Cowtown Marathon/FACEBOOK

Cold weather race solutions, heart-felt goodbyes, and stories of inspirations on this week’s Wrap.

• Cowtown Chill Demonstrates Need for Starting Line Solutions

We all know by now the importance of keeping the body temperature of runners from dropping after they stop running, but what about before they start?

The warm-blooded citizens of Texas were treated to a visit from Old Man Winter in a real way this past weekend and Fort Worth’s Cowtown Marathon and Half Marathon was a frigid casualty with all the weekend’s events cancelled except the half marathon.

Photos of runners huddled at the start in trash bags and hazmat suits in an attempt to keep warm on the Cowtown Facebook page highlight the need for race directors to think about not just post-race warming solutions, but pre-race ones as well.

Read more from the Dallas Star-Telegram: Cowtown half marathon runners undeterred by Old Man Winter

•  Remembering Heatsheets Volunteer Joe Johnson

Last week, Heatsheets said goodbye to long-time volunteer, fellow marathoner, and most importantly our friend, Joe Johnson, who passed away the week before at the age of 76. Read all about Joe here.

• From Novice to Pro: One Woman’s Marathon Journey

When Bobbi Jo Wendel entered a charity 5K in her mother’s honor two years ago, she never thought the marathon bug would catch her. But finishing that first race just felt too good. Read the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s wonderful profile on Wendel and how running helped her lose 40 pounds on top of the 140 she’d already fought drop.

Read more from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Marathon Ready: A race entered to support her mom turns marathon novice on to her running prowess