DOHA, Qatar — Long before any competitors dropped out here in Doha, their bodies tormented and broken by the heat as Friday night turned into Saturday morning, the public-address announcer sold the race as a unique event, as something to celebrate, even: the very first midnight marathon at a global competition.

Really, the late start of the women’s marathon at the world track and field championships — 11:59 p.m. local time, to be precise — was a knowing concession to the elements, to conditions that tend to hover between molten and flambé. By the time the race started, the temperature had cooled to a balmy 90 degrees.

Officials from the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field’s governing body, went to great lengths ahead of the event to stress how much they had devoted to athlete safety. Extra water stations. Extra medical personnel. For the runners themselves, who did six laps of a seven-kilometer course, the race proved extra painful.