Today's Chicago Marathon was not the best of experiences for me. As feared the heat would take it's toll. I just did not know how much it would affect everything.
You should know at the start, the race was called after the mid-point for me, due to excessive heat. I could see something was not right when water stations starting at the 3rd one were running out of water and Gatorade. I did not have any Gatorade until the Mile 10 water station. That is how bad things were.
What I did not know is that 320 people were rushed to the hospital, and one runner died today. I am sure there was no choice but to end the race. 24, 941 finished out of over 36,000 at the start.
My race was going well until after mile 3 when I really needed water and Gatorade. Then I began to wear down. I joked that I was taking running breaks during my walk. I know I could have finished the race. I was clearly slower than my goal pace, but I knew if I wanted to stay in, I couldn't go fast.
Between Mile 15 and 16 we were told by police the race was being called, and to begin the walk back to Grant Park. We were on the west side of the city, so it was quite a hike.
At first I was upset. I wanted to finish this. I called my sister and she reminded me that even getting to where I am is a huge accomplishment, and that I have nothing to feel bad about. I wondered if I was getting a medal, and if so, did I deserve it. She told me of course I did as a reward for my hard work.
What the race officials could not do, the wonderful people of Chicago did. Many people came out to bring us water and to hose us down . One grocery store brought out bottles of water for us. The fire department opened hydrants to cool us off.
I'm not going to go into my thoughts about the management of this race. I will save that for another day.
Instead I am going to thank Krys, George, Matt and Mark for being my trusty road crew today. They got me food, Gatorade and water, and I really appreciate it!
I am sore, but ok. I got my medal, and now I rest. I'll go into more about the race tomorrow.
Charlie
4 comments:
Charlie!
You were fabulous for getting as far as you did! You worked hard! Robert and I say, "Congratulations!"
Geeeez ... I did not expect to read a race report like that. Sounds horrendous! Puts it all into perspective when you hear about people dying.
OK, that explains why I couldn't get any info on you after mile 15. And the official website didn't say anything about how it was called off or anything (at least as of Sunday night).
Oh, I'm so glad you weren't one of the ones that had to go to the hospital!
You made it as far as they would permit. You knew you could finish. It was too hot to run healthily.
Next time.....
Kelly
I just read the Washington Post sports section (something I rarely do except the Redskins kicked butt yesterday and I wanted to see if there was any mention of the Chicago marathon).
DC had the Army 10-miler yesterday. Their rest stops after 5 miles were completely out of water (when the race started it was in the 70s with 90% humidity). One runner died.
It sounds like it's time for race organizers to set standards of what is too hot/humid to run sanely.
Kelly
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