Sue CHICAGO Marathon

It is true the problems were related to the heat, but they were exacerbated by the lack of fluids. I think the people reasonably expecting tables with gatorade and water on them and then not finding them there have a legitimate complaint and might be due some compensation.

I've run a marathon in worse conditions. its not dangerous if you're properly trained. its only dangerous for the penguins who read Runners World and believe that you actually can run a marathon on 30 miles a week.

If anyone should be sued its Rodale press, Jeff Galloway, and that Penguin dude, not Cary Pinkowski.

Here are my thoughts...i finished in the low 2:40's to give you perspective.

1. There was probably a vast majority of the runners who were not properly hydrated PRIOR to the race. It's not good enough to fill up on water the day before, proper hydration takes days.

2. There was probably a vast majority of the runners who didn't know how to handle the heat. I'm talking about pace and hydration. With heat like there was yesterday if you didn't significantly drop you goal pace for the race you were pretty much toast by 10 if that. I decided to drop 16 seconds per mile off my previus goal per mile pace.

3. A majority of the people around me took 1 cup of gatorade (sometimes 2 towards the end of the race) and a cup of water (with another cup used to pour water over the head). This is just what i saw around me. There was also never more than 2 or 3 people at the water stops at the same time as me, which cut down on confusion and chaos like there was when the masses came through.

I also took water and gatorade from spectators. Ran through every hydrant and hose and did everything i could to cool off/ get hydrated.

4. I would definately place more blame on runners not being adequately prepared for a race this distance and in this type of heat. It did look like they added a few gatorade stops in the final few miles of the race atleast there were more than i had expected to be there. I can't speak on this much but it seems like the race directors should have made sure that there was enough water for the runners at the back of the pack, although i've heard that a lot of that was due to so many people hanging out around the water areas and people not knowing where to get water.

5. The temperature and humidity were INSANE. i saw 87 degrees when i was at 9 miles and i checked the weather before the humidity was suposed to be around 90% at race time.

sad but true wrote:

jaguar1 wrote:

You can't place a dollar sign on someone's life.

Oh I'm sure the lawyers who sue on behalf of the guy that died will managed to come up with a number allright.

Yeah. Zero. He had a pre-existing heart condition.

Say "bye bye" to your funding and perhaps the most financiallly healthy aspect of our sport. Good thing you're not running things.

Chi-town Marathon Finisher wrote:

It's not good enough to fill up on water the day before, proper hydration takes days.

No it does not. Any extra water you drink a full day or earlier before the marathon is going to be pissed out long before you ever get to the start. Proper hydration takes less than a day.

I guess there are not any marathons run in the summer time when it's hot. Runners sign the waiver and know they can die from running whether it's hot, cold, snow, ice whatever it may be. You know the risks. They should have let everyone finish, it would discourage 30,0000 Galloway joggers from running anymore races.

1st congrats on your low 2:40 finish.

I had planned on a 2:22 and adjusted my pace to 2:30 and still had trouble. However I am not complaining this is part of the sport and I accept it. But I DID properly train and hydrate for this race, and just can't handle fluid intake while running in the heat. Not everyone who ran poorly did so to poor preparation. Some people just can't handle the heat and unfortunately I am one of them.

What blame are you placing on runners??? I don't understand. I don't think the complaints are about running slowly in the heat, they are about water stations not having adequate water for everyone. I had adequate water as I was running ahead of the masses, but I think EVERYONE that was ahead of the pace that Chicago marathon promised support for should have had water at each station. This is not the runners fault!

I was on the train to the race and a ladye had a water belt. I thought it was kind of silly.. why do you need a water belt at a race that has aide staions... guess i was wrong.

Cobblers wrote: its only dangerous for the penguins who read Runners World and believe that you actually can run a marathon on 30 miles a week.

Dude, I acknowledge your post is a broad, lowest common denominator troll. That said: I suspect a lot of us would be surprised how good 30 MPW training is, and how knowledgeable RW readers are, relative to the fields in these megaraces.

It'd be interesting to know the percentage of entrants who've trained less and done less mental preparation and learning. Guaranteed it's closer to 50% than 5%.

Just an observation. I don't bring this up to laugh or scowl at the penguins to feel better about myself. (If I needed an ego boost at others' expense I'd rather read this message board and laugh and scowl at the phools here.) The penguins are here to stay and they do indeed bring the the media coverage and the sponsors and thereby, indirectly, the elites.

i saw many runners with long sleeve shirts on. No joke.

Sue Galloway for not properly training the people who got sick in the race. And Dean Karnazes/John Bingham while you're at it.

andre dawson wrote:

i saw many runners with long sleeve shirts on. No joke.

i ran the lakefront marathon in milwaukee, a 120 miles north and it was very hot there as well.

we got long sleaved tech fabric shirts and i saw a couple guys wearing them during the race.

amazing.

I saw that too, but someone told me that many folks with skin conditions / skin cancer will wear long sleeves as a preventitive.

I happen to know a very honorable, very reliable, very good physician who was running at the back of the pack. She related to me that at the FIRST THREE water stops there were no fluids and no people, just empty cups. She was diverted before she got to mile 17 back to the finish per police order. At the finish she found stacks of fluids encased in plastic to the extent that there were not people enough to disperse it all. Amazingly she said she would sign up again for the race.

Organizers have responsibilities. Did the race organizers meet their responsibilities? Amusement parks have height requirements. We live in a nation that regulates safety in multiple ways. Doctors generally need malpractice insurance. I'm a doctor. If I had a fatality, 5-6 people in the CU, and 300 patients admitted for dehydration over the course of seeing 45,000 patients what sorts of resolutions would occur?

It's unfortunate for all involved but to remove the organizers' responsibilities to put on a safe race is ridiculous. Watch what happens when the lawyers get into the fray. You have neglect, damages, and it is obvious that they are related.

Runners have responsibilities too. For example, they understand that they are undertaking a dangerous endeavor. They even sign a document to that effect. So if they are not getting enough water, for whatever reason, it should be their responsibility to stop running.

If you would like to sue the race people for not having enough water to get your entry fee back, great. If you want to sue them for the death and hospitalization, then no. The "neglect" should entitle you to the entry fee at most.

Cobblers wrote:

I've run a marathon in worse conditions. its not dangerous if you're properly trained. its only dangerous for the penguins who read Runners World and believe that you actually can run a marathon on 30 miles a week.

.

I ran a BQ on about 30 miles per week.

There's plenty of room in the running community for 6 and 7 hour marathoners. There's room for the Penguins and the Gallowwalkers, for Runner's World and Let'sRun for charities and prize money, for the Elite and the Achilles Track Club. The big city marathon majors and their sponsors are well aware of this.

The joy of running is not to the swift alone but can be there for all at any speed. The 13 minute per mile guy can achieve many of the same benefits from running as the 5 minute guy. We know what they are, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, stress release, a sense of well being and more. We live in a society of extremes and for many the extreme goal of the marathon is the draw into the world of running. Yes there are many who do the marathon and check it off on their 100 to do in life list, but there also are many who find a new lifestyle, forge new friendships, and become runners and fans of the sport.

Could Chicago have done better by the 5, 6, 7 hour group, sure. Could the slower runners have done better for themselves, sure. Perhaps two good things will come out of this, the mega races will do an even better job of preparation than they already do and those who prepare the novices will improve there runner's preparation as well.

Running and the marathon are a large umbrella, let's leave it that way.

hydrated wrote:

So if they are not getting enough water, for whatever reason, it should be their responsibility to stop running.

.

1.) Many runners reported the aid station were promising water down the line.

2.) If you are overheated, stopping running isn't going to help too much.