The skies opened up every day for a week leading up to the Arbutus Firecracker 10K on July 4, but when 506 runners convened at Arbutus Middle School at 8 a.m. the weather and roads were all clear.
That left it up to the fans and homeowners in the community to provide cooling squirts from hoses and sprinklers to combat the humidity and they came through in championship fashion.
So did Ty Stump, who won the race for the second straight year.
The 2009 Catonsville High graduate negotiated the 6.2 mile course in a time of 33:58.1.
Stump pulled away from the pack about 2.5 miles into the race and was never challenged.
It was the seventh straight year the University of Maryland student has run the race.
"I wouldn't miss it for anything," said Stump who admits the heat has been a problem in various years. "This race is pretty tough with all the heat, but all the sprinklers makes it so nice."
Rounding out the top ten males were: Flowers Jackson (35:31.4), Adam Driscoll (35:34.5) Chris Sams (35:40.4), Jesse Stump (36:23.3), Peter Randial (36:58.4), Julian Rivera (37:22.9), Jason Miller 37:29.6), Chris Chattin (37:37.7) and Brooks Michael (37:42.9).
Megan DiGregorio, a 2006 graduate of Perry Hall was the first woman finisher in a time of 39:13.
It was her first time running the race and the Canton resident was impressed by the sprinklers and water stops.
"They were awesome. They were everywhere and I've never seen so many water stops," she said.
The rest of the top 10 women included: Allison Letourneau (40:22.2), Megan McNew (41:25.4), Denise Knickman (42:50.8), Shannon Hoffman (43:12.6) Julie Wolfe (44:12.1), Kay Borleis (44:13.9), Lisa Levers (44:31.7), Megan Wiedman (46:16.5) and Sandra Gallagher-Mohler (46:29.9).