Steamy Road Races Held At Gillette Stadium In Foxboro

FOXBORO (CBS) - Despite scorching temperatures on Tuesday, thousands of brave souls took part in two road races at Gillette Stadium.

The Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 benefits families facing pediatric cancer.

This year, the supreme challenge was 90 degree temperatures. Most runners did OK, but even a few of the fastest had some problems, needing help from medical teams.

Every runner felt it.

"Oh the heat was so bad I was sweating after mile one," said runner Evan Vasconcelos. "I told every person with the water to spray me in the face with it. It was so bad I've never trained this year in 95-degree weather so it was a little tough, challenging, but we got it done."

Gallons of ice water and a battery of misters were waiting at the finish.

Fortunately, there were no widespread heat issues, a relief for organizers, including race director Dave  McGillivray.

"We were trying to strategize this whole thing. Do we cut back the 10K to a 5K? Do we eliminate it altogether? What do we do, but so far so good," he said.

But it was no picnic, even for men's 5K winner Michael Curley.

"The heat, definitely felt it a lot. The humidity too. You really just get out there and start sweating but 5K is short enough,  before you know it its over," he said.

Andrea Gregory, one of the top women's finishers, said she did it because she stayed hydrated and trained.

"It wasn't too bad, I mean hot but I'm used to doing it, I trained for hot marathons," she said.