One thing is for sure, I will never forget the 2007 Chicago Marathon. I volunteered just before mile 6. We put up tables, banners, poured cup after cup of water, filled 4 layers of water and waited for the runners to come by. This was my 4th year volunteering and never before have I seen anything like what I saw this year. First off, the elites NEVER take any fluid so early on. At least, not what we had…they usually have their own stuff. However, from the very beginning, elites were taking cup after cup of water…not to drink, but to pour over their heads.
And so it continued with more and more runners coming by and taking not 1, but 2 or 3 or even more cups of water. I always laughed at the left over fluids we had at such an early aid station, but this wasn’t the case this year. We gave out everything in a hurry! I think the pace was around 4:45 when we had to start scrambling to fill more cups of water.
I did as much as I could and then headed over to the 15K mark to get in a short run myself. I lost Sean Alcock, my “pacer”, so I just jumped in randomly. I was smiling and happy to be able to get in a few miles. The shin hurt, but not too bad. It was really cool to be living the marathon experience without the pressure of doing all 26.2 miles. I caught up with JO and ran with him for a few miles before he said he wanted to walk and I should just go on. The pace was slow and we had to wait in line to get Gatorade/water at each and every stop. I thought that was strange…these were not even back of the packers, yet the aid stations looked trashed.
I hopped on along, a spring in my step since I was still fresh and I caught up to the Saint! He was doing so well! He said he felt good, but felt like quitting, it was so hot. Oh, you’re not going to quit. (he always says that) We chatted for a bit, and walked together for a bit. He seemed to be doing well and told me to move on. I did that because I know how he hates me to “hang back” for him and I needed to get in some running today!
LOTS and LOTS of people walking and it was only because of a bunch of zig zagging that I could keep running, even though it wasn’t fast. I started to see a lot of runners cramping up, pulling off to the sides. I stopped several times to help runners in distress. One girl was just bawling, but more because she knew she couldn’t finish, she wasn’t in that much pain. Another guy just needed me to get him some fluids, and yet another just needed some help to get over to the side of the road to sit down for a few minutes.
I tried to encourage those runners that were actually still running. I patted a lot of “1st timers” on the back and told them “good job.” They appreciated it as their faces lit up and they smiled back with a big “THANKS!” I kept on, passing walker after walker, runner after runner…I actually felt “fast”!! The sound of sirens blaring was constant. At every turn, I heard an ambulance coming to help some fallen runner. Then I came up to KK who wasn’t doing so good. I know she trained hard for this event, but she had serious cramps. She tried several times to run, but the pain was too much. She even tried to throw up to see if that would help, but nothing was working. We walked on, chatting, just pushing through the heat. Tony caught up to us, all smiles and sat down to wring out his socks. He actually had puddles from where he squeezed his socks out. Yuck. That’s what you get for pouring water over your head!!! Well, it seemed someone actually dumped it over him, thinking it would help. Blisters, people. That only causes BLISTERS.
Around mile 22 we were being yelled at to walk. We were already walking, so it wasn’t an issue, but we wondered what was going on. We were told the race was “cancelled” and it was “over.” Yeah, it’s over for the winners, but it isn’t technically over until you finish, right? There were officers telling everyone to STOP running and that the clocks were turned off. This was for our safety and there were no more aid stations on the course. Now we were at mile 23…
I could talk about the rest, but it’s irrelevant. The heat wasn’t a surprise and I do feel most of these runners could handle the heat. What they could not handle, however, was the lack of fluids provided for them. At the end of the race, I learned that the first 2 aid stations were completely OUT of fluid…for people on a 4:30 pace!!! That’s nuts! No wonder our aid station was hit so hard. This was the first time most of these people had access to fluid. I can say I’ve raced in worse (temperature) conditions. However, I don’t know how I could’ve handled not being able to drink until mile 6 of the race. It was just too hot of a day for that and probably what caused the 350+ people to seek medical attention.
Never before have they “called” the Chicago Marathon. And I hope it never happens again. To anyone who raced – congrats. Whether you did the whole course or not, you survived some of the most brutal marathon conditions. Now take the experience and learn from it.
