It’s impossible for a city to operate in an atmosphere of risk-free activity. That’s what insurance is for. On top of that, The event would have carried it’s own insurance.
Look at large aviation events. Every year someone associated with Oshkosh dies. Sometimes it’s at the air show, sometimes it’s in transit. This year it was a performer who crashed during the show. Last year it was a spectator who was in line for departure. Every single year at least one pilot ground loops a plane. The air show in Dayton Ohio had a fatal crash, as did the Reno Air Race.
If the city and event planners provided water for hydration and cooling and they had medical personnel scattered around the course then they’ve made a good faith effort to provide assistance to the runners.
Actually, a marathon-running colleague of mine said he knew that something was amiss because the winning time was so slow compared with what he would normally expect in Chicago, which is apparently a very fast course.
I agree with you…I think people have to assume their own risk in these situations. I’m just saying that the city has to do more than just a “good faith” effort if they want to hold the Olympics, and you would think that an event like the marathon would be a good place to start showing that you have your act together.
As far as the lawsuit comment was concerned, I guess my point was that people aren’t really going to separate the city out of the equation in terms of liability.
I do not think it will have any repercussions whatsover except among a tiny minority who want to blame organizers for what was clearly the Almighty’s fault: bad weather.
When I woke up Sunday AM and saw the forecast the first thing I thought was that the Marathon was going to be a disaster. One youngster died; he had mitral valve prolapse. It’s very common for at least one guy out of a group of marathoners to check out in the horizontal mode. The rest had their day ruined by bad weather. Overall it was a crummy marathon day. Not much else.
I’d tell someone to get a life if you they think bad weather is a cause for any deeper angst than learning how to handle that particular form of bad weather for that particular event next time.
Chicago’s chances for the Olympics will not be changed by this. GWB probably has as much to do with US image in the world as the (other) Almighty does.
I disagree. The people putting the race on have a duty to provide the services needed. It is very standard for these things to have water stops with water for people who want it.
No cite available, but I recall my kids coming home from school and saying in their science course they showed that on an equal scale, a pancake would be “hillier” than Illinois!
Given the extensive use of public facilities - streets, parks, police, etc., it is difficult for me to consider this a strictly private enterprise. Even if it were, I could imagine someone questioning the city’s “permitting” of a risky or negligently run enterprise.
Talking with my friend, I’m convinced it wasn’t all that big of a deal. That is, for someone with a modicum of common sense, and an awaresness of his/her own body. The problem is, when you host an event of this scale, you ought to anticipate that you are going to attract a sizeable number of irresponsible morons. And they are the ones who are going to cause problems.
