Road races in hot weather (10k)

Hi all,

I'm in Australia so it's currently summer here. Doing a 10k sunset road race this weekend where the forecast is looking to be pretty hot (between 32 and 36C / 90-97F during the race time).

I've never raced in such warm conditions before so I'm keen for any tips and recommendations. I've been heat acclimatising throughout the last couple months and have run in temperatures of 35-40C the last couple weeks, but they were easy 5k runs, not 10k races.

Particularly keen on tips regarding:

  • Pacing: my 10k PB is 40:25 from a couple months ago. Looking at last year's results, that would have placed me 8th in my age group, but I'm not sure what the raceday conditions were like last year. It's not an important race, but a good chance to get a good result for me.
  • On-the-day race day prep, given the hot day and the fact that it's a sunset (6:30pm start time) race. I generally run in the morning, with some occasional easy runs in the evening
  • Attire: I normally race in a singlet and split shorts but haven't raced in temperatures above 24C before so this is considerably warmer. Generally I would run shirtless in these temperatures if it wasn't a race but not sure if that's fine for a race? The race rules don't stipulate clothing requirements, beyond having to display your bib (which I assume I could do on my shorts? Haven't tried that before.)
  • Any other tips!

Thanks :)