People don't seem to realize how bad the heat was at Chicago

Guinnessman wrote:

The Chicago Marathon had over 39,000 running in it and most were not looking to qualify for the World Championships and Olympic Games. They mosty came to enjoy the crowd, the view, the course, the venue and 26.2 miles. My point is one half of the Chicago Marathon is beautiful and the second is not as enjoyable (except for pilson and chicatown). I would like some more consistency and some really excitement in the last 10 miles instead of running allown the Eisenhower, Dan Ryan and over the Stevenson Expressways.

You raise a lot of good points, but it isn't going to happen. The stores and businesses in the downtown and north side areas, along with the whiny residents would never stand for the roads being tied up that late in the day.

One of the things that makes Boston so cool is the finish. Boylston has a lot on common with Michigan Ave and I always thought running down there would be awesome. Problem is the stores love when you spend money there, but they would view the inconvenience as a threat to their survival. Also the Lincoln Park Mom with the $3k stroller set would rebel when they saw heavy traffic as they drive around the block to Starbucks in their Range Rover.

The South leg is the last for a reason, it is quieter there and easiest for the city to deal with.

It's not fair to criticize people for chasing fast times and then turn around and tell them that if they haven't run a certain time they cannot participate in event X (e.g. Oly trials, Boston, WC's, etc.)

I read this entire thread and I want to thank ROJO for stating the obvious. There are a lot of crybabies on this thread, It was great that they were called out. If you want a pb by more than a couple minutes and you fail, you are the norm. And that is in perfect conditions.

I would agree with your point but I would also would say that it would keep people there for the businesses. And I saw alot of Lincoln Park Moms cheering on the runners. I see no issue for closing down the Loop til 2:00 but it might be an issue for shoppers that did not go to the Marathon to get to North Michigan Ave but heck with them.

???????????? wrote:

tjkcssa wrote:

So did you run? What was your time?

Waiting.........

And waiting

Cue the Jeopardy song:

Perfect Quote of the Day wrote:

I read this entire thread and I want to thank ROJO for stating the obvious. There are a lot of crybabies on this thread, It was great that they were called out. If you want a pb by more than a couple minutes and you fail, you are the norm. And that is in perfect conditions.

a good thread attracts trolls like a fiddler attracts a square dance!

I agree with you.

For those who really suffered in the heat... quick question... did you dump water on your head? I made sure to do this starting with the fist water station and continued to do so at every one. I think it made a massive difference. It kind of stunk being completely soaked early, but very quickly (like within 400 meters) I stopped noticing. Also, did you grab the sponges? I would take 2 or 3... squeeze them over my head, wipe my arms and face, and put one in the back of my shorts (just tucked between the waste band and skin). I also think this helped. I knew it was going to get hot, so started trying to keep cool early. I still think it effected, me, but clearly not as much as others. If you didn't do all of the above, I could certainly see how it would be really hot. I wish people would stop saying it was 70 out there. IT WAS NOT. It was 80+ for the 2:30+ marathoners... especially in the sun, out in the middle of the road.

fyi, my goal was 2:36-38, but would have been happy with sub 2:40 (PR was 2:45:20 from last year, NYC, my first). I wanted to go through in about 1:18:20-30, and see where that left me. I went out in 1:18:23.

I think had 2 things gone differently, I could have run 2:38. 1) the temps from the beginning would have had to been ideal. Probably unrealistic to expect, but would have been great. 2) I should have latched on to a group that "went for it" at around 14, rather then hang back and run 10-15 seconds off them. That was fine until about 20 when they started to pull away and there was no way I was going to throw down a 5:45, by myself, at that point to catch them. Instead, I was largely left flying solo, battling accumulated fatigue, the heat, and general disappointment of watching sub 2:40 slip away.

Had I gone with that group at 14, I think 2:39:00-2:39:59 could have happened on Sunday But who knows... maybe I would have blown up spectacularly and run 2:45 or 50. Had it been an ideal day temp wise, and I went with that group, I think I probably could have gotten into the 2:38s, and possibly under.

But who knows. I'm happy with a 5:00 PR, everything rarely if ever goes "perfectly" and I executed pretty well all things considered. Can't really expect or want more then that.

Poor thread - Chicago has has consistently the worst weather of the Marathon Majors. Chicago is not a marathon major because it is a fast run: Amsterdam , Rotterdam and others are quicker.

If you want cooler, go somewhere else, if you want big time marathons then suck it up.

For me - I don't like warm. So I do Tokyo - ticks all the boxes.

Didn't Wejo DNF the 2003 Pan AM 10k due to heat?

I love how some of the coaches and athletes here who didn't lace up and actually run this race dismiss the observations and experiences of the folks who actually did have to experience the sun, hot pavement, and lack of shade and wind.

Why do you love it?

Why has this thread gone on for 7 pages?

If you play the 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' game with the marathon...always giving reasons why you underperform or always waiting for that 'one great day' then you will sorely be disappointed.

There have been PRs run in bad weather and there have been great blow ups in great weather. Whether or not your perform well on race day has little to do with the weather unless we're talking extremes.

Was Chicago perfect? No. Most marathons are not.

If you start looking for reasons why you underperformed then you will ALWAYS find them.

Alan

"It was brutally hot"-Wejo

http://www.letsrun.com/wejorecap.html

"DeHaven only missed it by 90 seconds on a brutally hot day in Pittsburgh. If the Trials had been run on the flat Chicago course in decent temperatures, DeHaven would have run close to 2:11:00 and Clark would have broken 2:30.

So the solution is simple, hold the Trials on courses in 2004 where there is no chance for extremely hot weather. Admittedly global warming makes this a slightly more difficult task but it shouldn't be all that difficult as hardly any marathons are run in 80 degree weather."-Rojo

http://www.letsrun.com/rojospeaks.html

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KAGC/2000/5/7/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Pittsburgh&req_state=PA&req_statename=Pennsylvania

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMDW/2010/10/10/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Chicago&req_state=IL&req_statename=Illinois

Alan,

I disagree with this:

"Whether or not your perform well on race day has little to do with the weather unless we're talking extremes."

and the connotation of this:

"If you start looking for reasons why you underperformed then you will ALWAYS find them."

Per the first point, what defines an extreme? Is 10-15 degrees hotter then ideal an extreme? Tell those who ended up with heat stroke that it is not. Now, I understand as well as anyone that its the athlete's job to properly hydrate and stay cool (with water on the head, using the sponges, finding the shade on the course, etc), but its all about cause and effect. The cause is the increase in temp and either physically not coping with it well no matter what you do or not taking care of yourself before and during the race, and the effect is slower times, heat stroke or worse. Preventable? Possible. An effect on you perform well or not? Definitely.

Per your seconds point. And what is wrong with this? I hope my guys always find something that went wrong, otherwise, how can we expect to improve? I encourage ALL my athletes to question the training advice and schedules I provide, to question after the fact their race strategy, fueling strategy, etc. Looking for reasons why you underperformed is what an athlete is SUPPOSED to do. Not to use it as an excuse, or a crutch, but to use it as intelligence to improve in that area at the next race. You see Haile and others all the time saying the weather, their hydration, the allergies, etc lead to suboptimal performance. These aren't "excuses" in the way that we commonly think of an excuse. They are rational reasons as to why their performance, even if it was a world record, was sub-optimal.

I'm sure after Haile's world record, he evaluated the race and found reasons why he underperformed. This is why he is the best and has set so many world records. Whether its because he needs to get mentally stronger, physically faster, find better courses, or hydrate and fuel better, the questioning and searching for reasons is such a huge part of becoming better.

At least that's my coaching philosophy.

hmmmm and you other turds are really embarrassing yourselves.

Embarassing how? I'm just pointing out that when Wejo ran a race under similiar conditions it was terribly hot and hurt the field, and the men behind Letsrun let their audience know. Yet now Letsrun is posting front page that in the case of Chicago you just needed a pair to run well as the weather was not a big factor. Most people in this thread are not defending the idea of running in a bubble, they are just saying 'hey, it was hot enough to put an extra hurting on me'. I don't know why people refuse to say it was hot enough to be a legitimate factor.

We'll see how long it takes for that to get deleted.

How did this weather compare with Beijing (Olympics)? How about Osaka (World Championships)? How about Athens (previous Olympics)?