Chicago Marathon Day

Ok, so today's the Chicago marathon. They are predicting mid-80s, and unfortunately the weatherman were right on this one. By 7am, it was already over 70 degrees. Kristin, Jodie, Mike D., and Bill were all going to run so we met at 4:45am and drove down together. The race began and off they went, with 44,996 of their closest friends. Melissa and I set off to Mile 2 to see them. Saw Jodie and Kristin, but missed Mike and Bill. Off to mile 13.1, where Rich got off the train and met us. Saw Jodie go by, and she looked strong. Kristin next who was still running good. Missed Mike again. Where's Bill? Melissa and Rich headed to 17 to see the rest, I waited for Bill. Finally Bill came and he was stuggling. It was now over 80 and a scorcher. It was humid and the sun was beating down. He wanted to quit, but I told him to just walk a bit and I'd join him. We walked to 14 and the aid station was out of water and gatorade. Bill really was feeling weak, so I swiped his sweat with a finger and licked (yes, I did) it to see if it was salty. Nope, no salt. He needed electrolytes and now! There was a White Hen about 2 blocks ahead, so I ran ahead to buy him some Gatorade. He kept going, therefore I had to run about a 1/2 mile with my bag to catch up. Just that 1/2 mile and I was done---it's hot and sweltering today. We just kept walking together and I tried to keep him walking at a good pace. Finally at about mile 16 we saw people coming from other side streets--what's going on? Then we heard--they were cancelling the rest of the marathon due to heat and concerns about medical staff. Although Bill was starting to feel better and thought he could continue, they weren't letting people and just redirected everyone straight back to Grant Park. All the firehydrants were open and spraying and everyone was yelling at all the participants to walk, not run.

I then just walked with Bill back towards the finish where they gave him a medal, but he wouldn't wear it. He didn't complete the race, the medal doesn't mean as much. Luckily all of the rest of the group was allowed to complete, although Mike was told at about mile 20 to walk also. Jodie finished in about 4:33, Kristin in about 4:57, and Mike in about 5:46--unfortunately none are official times as they stopped the race after about 3:30.

Come to find out later, one person died and about 400 were hospitalized. We also saw many, many people getting aid that probably didn't go to the hospital. It was just a rough day.

After getting home in the evening, I still had to do my mile. It was still quite warm, so I just did the normal loop. Ran 1.02 mile in 9:06 pace (9:02/mile pace).

What a disappointing day for Bill. His first DNF, and not of his own choice. It was probably for the best as he was stuggling and may not have been able to finish the whole thing anyway with the heat, but it's still a big letdown. Luckily Illinois is close and this marathon didn't require airfare and hotel, so he'll just have to add it to another year.