chicago marathon weather- what the heck

Hey all you chicken littles....have some confidence. I don't think the weather being in the 70s during the race is going to kill you. In fact you can beat a lot of people who are going to psych themselves out of the race b/c of the weather. I know weather is important....I'm not denying that. I just refuse to let the last 6 months of training be ruined by "unseasonably warm" weather. I suggest you quit whining. You are better than that....have some confidence in yourself and your training. You will do fine. Drink plenty of fluids.

PS. There is also a chance that the weatherman won't be correct. We may be sitting in the mid 50s for the race.

See ya in "CHI" town!!!!

I don't think I've ever seen a weatherman off by 15 degrees so I doubt it would be mid 50s at race time. Maybe mid 60s instead of high 60s.

If you're there to run the race then show up and run the race. If you're there to qualify for the trials where else you going to go? The cut off is Oct 7th. Chicago with the flat course and butt loads of other racers is your best bet regardless of the temps. What else you going to do? Go up to Canada or Minnesota or some place cold at last minute for basically a time trial? You want to run sub 2:30 you train for 2:28, you want to run 2:22 you train for 2:20, just in case shit happens when it usually does on race day.

Alan

Runningart2004 wrote:

I don't think I've ever seen a weatherman off by 15 degrees so I doubt it would be mid 50s at race time. Maybe mid 60s instead of high 60s.

If you're there to run the race then show up and run the race. If you're there to qualify for the trials where else you going to go? The cut off is Oct 7th. Chicago with the flat course and butt loads of other racers is your best bet regardless of the temps. What else you going to do? Go up to Canada or Minnesota or some place cold at last minute for basically a time trial? You want to run sub 2:30 you train for 2:28, you want to run 2:22 you train for 2:20, just in case shit happens when it usually does on race day.

Alan

You've never seen a weatherman then. What other job in the world can you be wrong 99.9% of the time (and I'm not talking slightly wrong, more like saying it's raining when there's not a drop for a 100 mile radius around the viewing area) and still keep the job?

You are welcome to do a better job - I'm sure people would pay a lot for your accurate forecasts.

whaaaaa? wrote:

You've never seen a weatherman then. What other job in the world can you be wrong 99.9% of the time (and I'm not talking slightly wrong, more like saying it's raining when there's not a drop for a 100 mile radius around the viewing area) and still keep the job?

Uh, a meteorologist's job is to PREDICT what the weather will be a various points in the future, not guarantee what it will be. The best climatolists in the world are frequently wrong. It's an inexact, highly complex science.

Financial analysts are wrong all the time about the stock market and the economy. They still have jobs too.

Runningart2004 wrote:

I don't think I've ever seen a weatherman off by 15 degrees so I doubt it would be mid 50s at race time. Maybe mid 60s instead of high 60s.

What? Weathermen misread the systems all the time. If the warm weather system speeds up by a day, we'll be sitting pretty on race day. It's not like they are predicting the weather for tomorrow. The race is still 4 days off and a lot can change.

Rain they can be off a lot. Just because the conditions in the clouds are right doesn't mean it's going to fall to the ground and it could be raining in the clouds but evaporate before it hits the ground. They are typically spot on with temps though. You'll notice they never say "it's going to rain", they talk about percentages and viewing area. If the viewing area of a station is 50 square miles then they might say there is a 50% chance that someone in the viewing area might see some rain. If you break that down to the chance of YOU personally seeing some rain it's much, much less than 50%. Of course if the viewing area is say 25 miles then that increases your chances. Now, if you're in the Chicagoland area that covers a HUGE amount of land in both Illinois and even in Indiana (ie: Gary, IN...South South Side of Chicago). Saying you have a 50% chance of seeing rain the Chicagoland area isn't saying much.

Alan

Alan

?????? wrote:

noon wrote:

Cubs play Sunday at noon in Chicago, how crazy is it going to be downtown? That is if they don't get swept by then.

What the hell does a Cub game have to do with downtown you idiot?

HELLOOO! Anyone outside of Chicago look at a map lately? The marathon course travels all the way up to Addison in Wrigleyville. Where's Wrigley field? On Addison. Duh!

Getting warmer... 73 at start, 77 at 9, 79 at 10, 80 at 11.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=wc&w3=sfcwind&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=thunder&w8=rain&w9=snow&w10=fzg&w11=sleet&AheadHour=0&FcstType=graphical&textField1=41.83700&textField2=-87.68500&site=all&AheadDay.x=48&AheadDay.y=3&AheadDay=48

Mars wrote:

[quote] wrote:

[quote]noon wrote:

HELLOOO! Anyone outside of Chicago look at a map lately? The marathon course travels all the way up to Addison in Wrigleyville. Where's Wrigley field? On Addison. Duh!

Streets are a bit longer in Chicago than the rube outpost you live in. The marathon course is not close to Wrigley Field. You're welcome. DUH!

the340miler wrote:

Shitown is true. Chicago is a very dangerous city.

Where the heck are you people from?! Chicago is the best city in the U.S.!

Deep thinker wrote:

Water Rat wrote:

Chicago is not the only fast course in the country folks. If the weather is not PRable but you are ready to bust one, skip Chicago and try Detroit or Columbus in two weeks, or Niagra Falls in three weeks. All fast courses.

Great idea! We'll just forget the entry fee here, book the flights, hotel rooms at all 3 and see what the weather looks like and go for it!

Thanks for the idea buddy!!!!

You seem to be oblivious to the fact that most of the runners in the Chi Marathon are from Illinois, mainly Chicagoland.

another spelling error wrote:

The best part is the original poster more than likely just made a typing error. He must have meant "shitown" instead of "chitown", makes more sense.

No, I think he meant "Chicongo"

mzxnc wrote:

Mars wrote:

[quote] wrote:

[quote]noon wrote:

HELLOOO! Anyone outside of Chicago look at a map lately? The marathon course travels all the way up to Addison in Wrigleyville. Where's Wrigley field? On Addison. Duh!

Streets are a bit longer in Chicago than the rube outpost you live in. The marathon course is not close to Wrigley Field. You're welcome. DUH!

I live in Chicago. Lifelong resident of the inner-city. The northernmost point of the course is 2.5 blocks from Wrigley Field proper. This is ridiculously close... enough for traffic to be a major issue. And it's rather idiotic of you to assume that cars, buses and cabs traveling down Lake Shore Drive (oh right, that's closed off too!) or streets surrounding the course can miraculously fly above those stretches of blocked off streets. No. Instead, they're backed up for miles. This is what we in the big city call traffic. I hope you can comprehend that, you mouth-breathing chode.

Mars wrote:

You seem to be oblivious to the fact that most of the runners in the Chi Marathon are from Illinois, mainly Chicagoland.

Where did you get this information? Less than 20% of the runners are from Illinois, let alone Chicagoland.

Fleet Footed Falcon wrote:

Mars wrote:

You seem to be oblivious to the fact that most of the runners in the Chi Marathon are from Illinois, mainly Chicagoland.

Where did you get this information? Less than 20% of the runners are from Illinois, let alone Chicagoland.

I phased it wrong. Of the Illinois runners, most are Chicagoland-based. (Which makes sense, considering how large the metro and surrounding areas are compared to the rest of Illinois.) I think I read it on the CM website; not certain.

fat old man, you are right, sir. post-race feed only.

why does it matter if suburbanites claim they are from chicago? it matters because they are claiming some authenticity that they lack, because they or their parents left chicago during the white flight period, draining the city of its tax base, yet they have the gall to claim that they are from the dangerous place itself, hoping for the street cred. and then of course there is also the fact that suburbanites are largely responsible for the worst survivable parts of the north side being what they are on weekends, and yes, it was suburbanites who rioted in near north or gold coast after the bulls' championships.

Mars wrote:

..., you mouth-breathing chode.

I'm going to steal this riposte and use it repeatedly for at least the next six months, if not the rest of my life; its that good. And Mars, your string of comments represents the kind of sustained brilliance in irritated eloquence that one rarely finds on these boards, or anywhere else for that matter. I tip my chapeau to you.

And boy, do I hope it dips to the low 60's by 7am Sunday. Here in Vancouver, a hot summer day is 68 degrees. Ideally, I'd be hoping for, like, 35 degrees. Love those cold races. And I don't give a rat's arse about the raceday forecast for 10 am, noon, 3pm, a fortnight next Friday. If it stays below 70 up to 9 am, then I might hold onto the 5:40's that I've trained and plan to run, come hell or Phoenix. The previous 3 marathons I've run have all been in crap weather conditions - driving rain, 25-40mph winds and 39 degrees in T.O. a few years back, the convection oven that was Boston '04, T.O. again last year with 20mph headwinds for 15 miles - and dammit, I'm sick of it. I'm pretty sure that I'll never do another marathon again after frying and dying in this one (pessimists are never disappointed.) 5K's from here on in. Every time I run one, the weather is great. It doesn't even have to be, but it is. Train hard; rip it up for 15 or so minutes; try again in two weeks.