More about the Chicago marathon

Expect a few lawsuits...

"So many runners fainting or vomiting by the roadside"

"Runners are a very unique breed and they're very determined and they
want to push themselves because of the all the time they put in
preparing for the race," Platt said.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/08/chi...ef=mpstoryview


CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Some increasingly desperate runners in the
brutally hot Chicago Marathon elbowed other participants out of the
way to get to scarce water. Others detoured to nearby convenience
stores in search of the hydration they say they couldn't find along
the course itself. Others gave up, sat down and cried.

Organizers on Monday defended their preparation for Sunday's marathon
-- during which one man with a heart disorder died and scores went to
hospitals -- even as runners told stories of a tough, sometime scary
battle to stave off heat exhaustion during the 26.2-mile race that
organizers ultimately cut short for many.

While some wondered if the disturbing spectacle of so many runners
fainting or vomiting by the roadside raised wider issues -- including
whether it might hurt Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics -- the
focus on Monday remained the anger and frustration of many of the
event's 35,000 participants.

"I ran six days a week for 10 months so they could not provide water?"
said Brian Mabee, 43, of Shelby Township, Michigan, who waded into a
public fountain to cool off after passing one depleted aid station
after another. "I thought if I could prepare, they should be able to
do it, too." Watch runners take on the race in record heat »

Organizers insisted they adjusted their plans for the heat and boosted
the number of drink servings at the race's 15 aid stations to 1.8
million from 1.6 million, as well as adding misting areas, extra ice
and water-soaked sponges.

"We did feel we had more than adequate water supplies out there," said
Shawn Platt, senior vice president of LaSalle Bank, the marathon's
sponsor.


Heart condition blamed for marathoner's death
Platt said planners did not anticipate runners would use drinking
water to cool themselves when misting stations and sponges weren't
available. He acknowledged many stations and sponges were set up
toward the end of the route instead of early on when runners first
started showing signs of fatigue.

"Probably we should have been a little more proactive about that,"
executive race director Carey Pinkowski said. See photos of the
marathon »

Many runners said they scrounged for sustenance themselves.
Sympathetic spectators along the route pulled garden hoses to the
street, spraying runners as they passed.

Signs of trouble came early.

"By the first or second water station, they were out, and they were
apologizing, saying, 'Just run a mile or two and there'll be more
water,"' said Merrie Ann Nall, a 59-year-old writing coach from
DeKalb, Illinois.

There was speculation the death of 35-year-old Chad Schieber, a
Midland, Michigan, police officer, was due to temperatures that
reached a race-record 88 degrees within two hours of the 8 a.m. start.

But Schieber, whose wife also ran Sunday, had a condition known as
mitral valve prolapse and did not die from the heat, according to the
Cook County medical examiner's office.

"It sounds like he lost his pulse very fast and died on the race
course," George Chiampas, the race's medical director, said Sunday.

Hundreds of others were treated along the route for heat-related
ailments. Organizers announced they were stopping the race about 3 ½
hours in, even though hundreds of people kept running for several more
hours. Runners who had not passed a certain point were barred from
going further and directed to buses traveling back to the starting
area.

Organizers told participants who had gotten further along the course
they could continue -- walking -- to the finish line.

Helicopters with bullhorns blared out instructions for runners to
stop. Some refused to heed the warnings and kept running.

"Runners are a very unique breed and they're very determined and they
want to push themselves because of the all the time they put in
preparing for the race," Platt said.

Also Monday, organizers of Chicago's Olympics bid said the problems
should not hurt the city's attempt to host the 2016 Summer Games.

"The very unusual circumstances around the Chicago Marathon were
unique and unfortunate," Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky said
Monday. "It is important to note that the Olympic Games' marathon,
with fewer than 200 elite athletes, is a very different event than
yesterday's race of nearly 40,000 runners."

At least 50 people were taken to hospitals, with another 250 treated
along the route, officials said.

Five remained at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Monday evening, all
in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

One runner's body temperature had reached 107 degrees when he arrived
at Northwestern, said Dr. Martin Lucenti. Several runners were
stuttering incoherently, unable to say their names or where they
lived. Treatment included piling ice on them and setting up fans,
Lucenti said.

During a typical Chicago Marathon, 96 percent of runners who start
complete the course. On Sunday, about 70 percent of the runners -- or
just less than 25,000 -- were able to finish.


One runner who dropped out of Sunday's race said he'd consider running
another marathon, but Walter Simpson said it wouldn't happen without
first checking the weather forecast.

"I'd want to be sure I knew what the weather was going to be like," he
said. "I'd probably run another one but not like this one." E-mail to
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