Running: Race organizers offer no apologies

Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 07:02 PM

'WE WERE VERY PROACTIVE' | Defend decision to end race, say they took extra steps to prepare for heat -- but runners angry at lack of liquids as over 300 needed care

October 9, 2007

BY JIM RITTER AND LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporters

Running in Sunday's overheated Chicago Marathon, Robin Gault didn't get any water until mile six or Gatorade until mile 10.

And like thousands of other runners, she wasn't allowed to finish.

"An apology would definitely help," she said.

But organizers of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon were making no apologies Monday for how they handled the marathon meltdown.

Gault, of Louisville, Ky., would also like her $110 entry fee back. Officials said they'd think about it.

"We will evaluate some options," race director Carey Pinkowski said. "We're not sure what they will be."

Organizers defended their decision to close the race early due to hot weather and insisted they were well prepared. Pinkowski said these are among the extra measures organizers took to cope with temperatures 20 degrees above normal:

• Before the race, e-mails were sent to runners warning them to take precautions from the heat.

• Added 205,000 cups for Gatorade and water, bringing the total to 1.8 million.

• Provided 20 air-conditioned CTA buses to cool runners along the route.

• Opened fire hydrants to spray water on runners.

• Gave runners water-soaked sponges at mile 20.

• Gave away ice at eight stations.

• After the race was closed down, added a 16th aid station for runners walking back to Grant Park.

"We were very proactive," Pinkowski said.

For safety reasons, officials stopped the race after 3½ hours. Only 70 percent of runners finished; normally about 96 percent complete the 26.2-mile course.

Many runners said they couldn't get water and Gatorade at aid stations. So they ducked into stores to buy bottled water, or drank from bystanders' garden hoses and even decorative water fountains.

Ambulances took more than 300 runners to medical tents and hospitals. Northwestern Memorial Hospital treated 54 runners for such symptoms as muscle cramps, vomiting and body temperatures as high as 107 degrees. Three Northwestern patients with spiked body temperatures were so incoherent they could not state their names.

But most runners recovered quickly. Only five remained hospitalized at Northwestern Monday. All were in good to fair condition.

But one runner died. Chad Schieber, 35, of Midland, Mich., had a common heart disorder called mitral valve prolapse. It was the fifth Chicago Marathon death in 10 years.

By various estimates, the risk of dying in a marathon ranges from 1 in 50,000 to 1 in 100,000, said Dave Watt of the American Road Race Medical Society. With 45,000 registered runners in the Chicago marathon, occasional deaths appear inevitable, Watt said.

Runners sign waivers acknowledging marathon running is potentially hazardous, and possibly fatal.

But just about anyone can participate.

There are no plans to restrict the Chicago Marathon. "That's not been the tradition of our race," Pinkowski said.