tuckerdc

Since there often are questions posted here about hotels and other topics related to the Chicago marathon and so many people travel from other locations to participate, it'd be interesting to hear some first person comments about what appears to have been a massive screw-up in yesterday's event.

JJ5

Honestly, I wasn't there, and only have heard and read- but I was at a track meet in the NW burbs that had 5 teen age girls down, and so they cancelled the boys meet that was to follow. It was because the necessary medical personal level was tied up with the girls in route to hospitals so they could not run the other, without the prerequisite number of emergency people and vehicles present and not being used.

Warm, and heavy humidity = not good for running.

The Marathon had a death, and he was only 35. They terminated the entire because of heat stroke dangers, and there is no amount of water or whatever to keep you going when that happens.

alex

FWIW, The Tribune reported that the runner's death was the result of a heart condition and unrelated to the heat. I have no idea if that is true or not. My friend ran and said it was brutal.

MelissaHI

I don't know that you can blame the heat & humidity on the race organizers--that's all Mother Nature. Here in Hawaii, we hold our marathon in December to help with such weather conditions for those who are not used to it. On race day, we just pray that it will be a mild day. Sometimes, the heat does soar and we have quite a few people collapse.

SuzieTrue

The racer who died is from my city in Michigan. He was a well-respected police officer. They are reporting he had a heart problem [mitral valve prolapse] which is what led to his death, not the heat.

sundown

By "massive screw-up" what specifically are you referring to? I've read some reports claiming there wasn't enough water, but those were countered by people who said that wasn't a problem. The weather was horrible, but short of postponing the event--which would be a logistical nightmare--I don't know what they would have done. We are, after all, in October. It's not like they had it scheduled for the heat of the summer.

isabellasu

Why does it always have to be somebody's fault? The organizers had water available, was it their fault the heat soared to record temps in October and caused runners to pour water on themselves instead of drinking it?
Might as well blame Bush/Cheney for screwing up the environment.
My cousin finished in 4:09..she said it was brutal and very tough to go on with seeing runners down and ambulances blaring constantly. A runner has a choice to stop for his health or risk it for the "love" of the sport.

MelissaHI

Very true, isabellasu! I was in the medic tent at the HNL finish line one year waiting for a band-aid when a runner died--he was about 35 and it was his first marathon. I looked at my watch and, without knowing the guy, I already knew he had pushed himself hard for the sake of finishing under 5 hours.

Race day is totally unpredictable in any marathon!

tuckerdc

I completely agree that it is an individual's choice to participate in such an event, particularly given extreme weather conditions.

And to SuzieTrue and her community, I offer sincere condolences for the loss of one of their own. A real tragedy.

I have a friend who did participate - and, pacing herself carefully, found it brutal and taxing...but do-able. However, she also reported aid stations mile-after-mile without water or gatorade; hydrants that were supposed to be turned on, that weren't; suburban amubulance companies called in....who then didn't know how to locate local hospitals.

I always wonder, on these boards, why some people are so willing to jump in w/o any knowledge of facts whatsoever (i.e.: you have a 5 year old; 5 year olds make noise; I don't want to be in the same state as your 5 y.o.....yes i'm exagerrating, but words to that effect).

As to 'why does someone have to be at fault'....well....a huge marathon with tens of thousands of participants does have PEOPLE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HAVING IT RUN SMOOTHLY. And if said people haven't done their jobs....yes, someone should be found at fault.

On the other side of the coin....there also are reports that one of the reasons the event was cancelled was the complete lack of cooperation from participants.....to pause long enough at intersections to let emergency vehicles (many!) get through. So there are many parties at fault, it would seem. Nonetheless....if there was ONE rest stop without an adequate supply of hydration....yes, I would call that a mess-up!

(And yes, IsabellaSU, since you ask - there is a heap of responsibility for environmental damage to lay at the doorstep of Bush-Cheney. Let's start with denial of global warming for...how many years????)

isabellasu

88 degrees in October 3 days in a row in Chicago...yup, Global Warming is a fact. I was trying to be sarcastic about Bush/Cheney being at fault, no denying they have helped move Global Warming to an alarming pace.

CAPH52

My condolences too, SuzieTrue. Even though he did have a heart condition, I find it hard to believe that the heat didn't make a bad situation worse. But, of course, it was his decision to run. As was the case with all of the runners. They knew it was going to be hot and chose to run anyway.

However, everything I've seen on the news outlets today indicates that the organizers probably should have done a better job of providing water. I saw an interview with the gentleman in charge. He said they hadn't anticipated that runners would pour the water over themselves as a coolant rather than just drinking it. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but these people are supposed to know what they're doing. It's not as though they hadn't known for at least a few days that it was going to be unseasonably hot. And the impression I got from watching the news tonight was that it's common for runners to use water as a coolant (as opposed to just for drinking). Shouldn't the organizers have known that? I would think that once they realized they might have a weather situation, they'd be doing research and trying to be prepared.

Leburta

Our Honolulu Marathon, which Melissa has run many times, is held on the first Sunday in December. It was noted on TV tonight that ours starts especially early at 5:30 a.m. in order to have as much of the race run in darkness (when it's cooler) as possible.

The head of the marathon said that one year when it was particularly warm, the race organizers sent an air conditioned bus out to pick up any participants who were having trouble in the heat.

We're open to all comers, and keep the race open until the last man comes in. If you want a "runner friendly" race, come run our marathon.

Aloha!

Queenie

I ran the marathon on Sunday.

The organizers let us down.

There were NO fluids until after mile 5. That means most folks had not hydrated in 2 hours! In that heat, once you lose your base its all over. I ran with the 4:30 pace group, I was probably in the middle of the pack.

I have run other races with water problems, so I had decided to carry a water bottle. It saved me. I also carry a cell phone and I was calling ahead to my husband to meet me at certain corners with water for the remainder of the race. This is not what we are paying our $100 entry fee for.

Consider:
- The weather forecast was well known and publicized days before the race. There were absolutely no surprises there.

- 25% of the registered runners did not even show up at the start! Can you imagine the problems if an additional 10,000 runners had run?

- The marathon markets itself as beginner friendly. Its amateur hour out there. Many first time marathoners do not understand the difference between heat exhaustion and running fatigue. They just don't have the experience. They assume there will be fluids on the course. For this very reason, Chicago had a duty to be doubly prepared. This is not a Boston crowd, who could more easily fend for themselves.

klam_chowder

Queenie, thx a mint for your comments. As you ran with the 4:30 pack, your comments have credibility.

I finished my first marathon 2 yrs ago, and tho I had trained a long time for it and was prepared, not being a "runner" I definitely would not have known the difference btwn running fatigue and heat exhaustion.

I agree with others who said if water/gatorade is missing from ONE station that is too much. When you're running that distance, you NEED it. As a newbie, I carefully studied the race course and the timing of the water stations and I trained to match that pattern.

I have worked the water stations of many large races and a few marathons. It is apparent that some races are MUCH better planned than others. I always marvel at how the planning could be off as the races are held every year.

Having to call ahead and look for your DH along the route must have been a lot of extra stress for you - congrats on finishing a tough marathon!

Enjoy-la!

GoTravel

Having run four marathons, not having water stations until mile 5 is dangerous and insane. I do fault the organinzers for that. They did know the conditions.

On the flip side, my husband's business partner who ran it last year, ran in freezing rain, sleet, and snow.

beach_dweller

Having run several marathons, and having volunteered at a water station in one . . . I hope this becomes a learning opportunity for not only the Chicago race director but for all marathon race directors.

One thing that might have gone overlooked at the water stations is that there is a difference between having water and sports drink at the station and then getting it into cups to give to the runners.

When my wife & I volunteered at the mile 13 water stop for the Myrtle Beach marathon this past February, there were several points where we almost could not get the cups filled fast enough and/or the sports drink mixed up fast enough.

Lesson: when it's unusually hot, the demand for liquids is going to be unusually high. And there must be enough volunteers to keep it flowing. My guess is that at least some of the Chicago water stations had a normal amount of volunteer who were unable to keep up with demand.

sundown

Good point, beach_dweller. I've worked aid stations, too, and it is amazing how fast you run through stuff. You think you're all set with a ton mixed up and in a blink it's gone and you're scrambling to catch up. With it being so hot I wonder if consumption was past anything they'd experienced prior years?

alex

I actually did read that in several news stories and blogs - that many of the stations had water or sports drinks but that they could not get the cups filled fast enough to keep up or that runners crowded around grabbing several cups so that the people behind them could not get drinks. Like I said, my friend ran but she has run many marathons and she started walking at mile 17 even though she was on pace to qualify for Boston because her body was telling her to stop.

Interesting thing I also heard on the news is that apparently this has made national news and other countries in contention for the Olympics intend to use this to discredit Chicago as a serious contender for the Olympics. It will be interesting to see how/if that plays out.

isabellasu

It would be a shame if the City of Chicago lost it's Olympic bid because of this marathon. The City of Chicago did NOT organize the race, LaSalle Bank did. Chicago's emergency personnel should be commended for coming to the aid of fallen runners. As for blaming the organziers for lack of water, this from the Chicago Tribune's Mike Downey:

"They," the marathon organizers, cautioned runners all week long that the temperature for Sunday was going to be hot. Not "unseasonably warm"—hot.

They begged runners to take extra precautions. They stocked more than 200,000 more servings of water than usual. They made as many of the necessary preparations as possible.

But when 35,000 people jump off a ledge, you can only catch so many in safety nets. The rest are going to fall.

marilynl

Here's part of an email I received from my daughter, who made it to mile 17 before being diverted back to the start:

"However, one of the reasons it was so brutal was that I was one of the people stuck without cups, water, or gatorade at some aid stations. I had to pick up discarded cups at a few stations and usually they either had gatorade or water, but rarely both after the second or third station. Plus there were lines to get water and towards miles 15 and 16 people were getting a little less gracious and were definitely fighting to get in line first and pushing cups in front of others. I read this morning that the race director said they had enough for drinking but not for everyone pouring things on themselves. That makes sense...people were definitely taking a lot of cups (myself included) and using the water to cool off. I guess that is why they ran out, but it also seemed to be mismanaged. The volunteers didn't have access to the extra water and then it was delayed in getting to the aid stations."

She was very disappointed not to have completed the 26 miles, and is thinking about trying the Grand Rapids marathon on October 28, looking at the 19 miles at the Chicago marathon as prep, but is waiting to see how she feels after running 12 miles this weekend.

I love Chicago, my hometown, but wonder how they would do with the traffic for an Olympics when they often have trouble with the traffic from Cubs games!