Marathon Madness

Today was the Chicago Marathon. The race I have been training all summer for. It was my 4th marathon (all Chicago) and I was excited because I actually trained and was disciplined leading up to this one. But I was also very nervous because I knew it was going to HOT.

Well, needless to say, it was extremely hot - record breaking hot - in Chicago. So hot that they shut the course down when I was just past mile 16. They re-routed many runners, including me, so that we would run only about 3 more miles until the finish. The re-route still brought us across the finish line so we could get our pictures taken and get our medals. So I finished, but only to the extent that the marathon officials and Chicago Police Department allowed me to finish, which was somewhere around 19 miles. So that was unfortunate. But it wasn't MY fault I wasn't allowed to finish the entire thing!

Some scary/disturbing things I encountered on the course:
1. The first 2 aid stations ran out of water/Gatorade by the time I got there. So there was no water for the runners until about mile 7. And I wasn't in the way back of the pack either. Thousands of runners were affected by this problem.

2. At one water stop, I saw a girl DIGGING IN THE GARBAGE for a water cup because they didn't have any cups for the water. I told the person to just pour some water in my mouth for me. There were a few people crying at this point and more people jumping into a fountain by the Botanical Gardens in Lincoln Park.

3. In Boystown (approximately mile 8 or 9) I saw a runner strapped to an emergency bed/stretcher having a seizure.

4. Apparently they ran out of water and ambulances due to the heat and that is the reason why they shut down the course early.

Some nice things I saw on the course:
1. People (spectators) getting out their water hoses and hosing down runners as they passed.

2. People (spectators) offering water and Gatorade to runners due to the fact that aid stations had run out.

3. Kieran waiting for me at mile 10 with some water and some encouraging words.

I will post some pictures later tonight or tomorrow. I am going to take a nap right now.