Forecasts for easing smoke haze over the weekend has been met by rejoicing from Wagga's parkrun troupe.
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Having had to cancel the event in late December due to hazardous air quality, this weekend's high heat will prove to be little barrier.
"We've been checking the air quality ahead of each run to make sure it's safe, the heat we can handle but the air quality is a huge problem," said Chris Scott, one of the group's run directors.
"The biggest thing is breathing difficulty. Even with the air quality better than it has been, we do encourage anyone who might have problems to let us know."
December 22nd's air quality reached well above to hazardous 200 rank, forcing the run to be cancelled for the first time in the group's almost three year history.
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Run every Saturday from 8am at Lake Albert, even when the air quality has been poor, but still not hazardous, the event has attracted strong numbers.
"When it's cooler we tend to have about 100 people, but last weekend we had 70 at least," Mr Scott said.
"People are still keen to exercise, and it's everyone from runners to walkers. Some complete [the 5km circuit] in 20 minutes, others in an hour, and everything within that spread."
Today, Wagga's air quality registered at 102 according to the NSW DPI, with the expectation that that could drop to 73 if the winds change.
"It's the first time it's been around 100 in a long time," Mr Scott said.
By comparison, Albury has registered between 180 and 206, which is considered hazardous.
Even with reduced concerns around air quality though, the parkrun team will move forward with heightened caution tomorrow.
Additional marshals will be on-hand to monitor deteriorating situations, and the group say they are ready to use their defibrillation machine should they need to.
"We have had no issues so far," Mr Scott said.
"But in the heat, hydration is the important thing. I brief everyone at the start to say, please in this heat don't attempt a personal best.
"It is an individual thing, some of our best runners have still run good times that would be within minutes of their personal best. It depends on your resilience to the heat."