Despite Summer Heat, Musicians March On In Broken Arrow

It's one thing to just walk around in today's heat, but can you imagine marching, running and playing a musical instrument as the sun beats down?

That's what hundreds of young musicians did Wednesday to prepare for the Drums of Summer.

The sun will start going down during the competition, but either way, members of Drum Corps International have had some high temperatures to deal with all day long.

With the sun beating down, Drum Corps members with "The cadets" march on.

With the high around 98 degrees Wednesday, and the heat index above 105, the Oklahoma heat is no joke.

From hats to swimsuits and bandanas, the musicians tried to keep as cool as possible.

The best tool, water.

Iain Moyer said, “That's really the biggest thing; we're always taking water breaks. And the other thing is, all times that we're able to, we're trying to be in the shade."

The Cadets has members from all over the world who travel to competitions all summer long; from Pennsylvania down to Florida.

After the competition in Broken Arrow, they'll head on to Texas. And checking up on the heat is a priority, especially with practices running from 10:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night.

"That's one of the big things we talk about every morning, what the heat index is going to be today. And if it's especially high, we'll certainly make note of it," Moyer said.

The competition starts Wednesday evening. Members of the Cadets say it’s hot in their uniforms, but they only have to tolerate them for about an hour.