Northern Exposure Is a Factor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joseph Karnes spent the last year living in a remote part of Alaska, working as a clerk for a judge and, when the weather permitted, training for the U.S. Olympic men’s marathon trials.

“The coldest it ever got when I ran was about 30 below,” recalled Karnes, who since has returned to a more moderate climate in Monterey, Calif.

So it should be downright balmy for Karnes today. The temperature here for the 9 a.m. start of the marathon trials is expected to be around 18 degrees, with the wind-chill factor dipping down into the single digits. The high should be around 35.

There also was the possibility of icy rain overnight, which could make the footing a little tricky.

Karnes, who isn’t supposed to be a factor, is looking forward to bad weather. “The gnarlier the better,” he said.

The ability to cope in less-than-favorable conditions, as well as the choice in clothing, could factor into the outcome of a race in which the winner gets $100,000 and the top three finishers go on to Atlanta this summer.

Of the pre-race favorites, No. 1-ranked Keith Brantley is a warm-weather guy from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and No. 3 Bob Kempainen is from Minnetonka, Minn. Then there’s dark horse and 1992 trials champion Steve Spence, who trains in the mountains of western North Carolina.

“I don’t think it’s a difficult adjustment,” said Brantley, 33, who had to leave the Brevard, N.C., training camp last fall because the cool mountain air bothered his exercise-induced asthma. “The Kenyans did pretty good one year in some snow and ice at the Boston Marathon running barefoot. Maybe I’ll have a little bit of that.”

Said Kempainen, 29, who took a year’s leave from the University of Minnesota medical school to train near Palo Alto, Calif.: “The people coming from a warm-weather climate might have a different point of view, but I’d rather go from training in cold weather to running in cold weather.”