[QUOTE=catsix]
I went by the news article that said something about three dozen ambulances from surrounding areas. Excuse fucking me that I am not an expert on Chicago geography.
[/QUOTE]
You’re not shitting us there, seeing as Roseville’s 300+ miles from Chicago.
Was the invitation to lick your asshole just for Elenfair, or was it meant for a wider audience?
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
I notice that article also says that the reason for the water shortage was that runners were taking 5-7 cups at a time and dumping them over their heads. Instead of being greedy and inconsiderate, they could have just stopped running.
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Of course they probably had no reason to think there would be a water shortage. All I can tell you is that completing the L.A> Marathon is still one of the proudest days of my life and I understand completely the desire to finish.
[QUOTE=Zebra]
This was the 30th annual Chicago marathon. I presume that previous events were held at the same time of year. So this day was picked because weather conditions should have been favorable. The race started when it was 70, fine weather, but it climbed into the 80’s.
[/QUOTE]
Below freezing at the beginning of the race last year. When I ran it in 2002 it never got above 50 degrees. This was very, very atypical weather.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
I notice that article also says that the reason for the water shortage was that runners were taking 5-7 cups at a time and dumping them over their heads. Instead of being greedy and inconsiderate, they could have just stopped running.
[/QUOTE]
These were the runners in the front – the pros and people trying to qualify for Boston, who have sponsorship, etc. Many of them had an incentive other than just “to finish” like people in the back of the pack, so that is where a lot of the water went.
Knowing several people who worked a couple of aid stations, there was also a serious lack of Gatorade. A lot of the medical problems were because the electrolytes weren’t getting replaced. One of the people in our Tri Club did the calculations and based on the quantities reported by the race directors, there was enough for 2 cups of water and 1 cup of gatorade per runner. Even in the best of conditions, that’s almost criminal.
There is also the issue of the marathon going up to 45,000 this year. 10,000 didn’t even start the race. Imagine how worse it would have been if those 10,000 had shown up?
Ah, I see. Well that’s a bit different. All I’ll say here is that when a dedicated runner has his eyes on the prize it can be extremely difficult to tell the difference between the body’s danger signals and the normal fatigue pains runners routinely endure during training. The poor guy probably had no idea how much danger he was in.
From reading some race reports, it seems that the race directors have a lot to answer for.
There was no water: They had reduced the number of water stations from 18 to 15. (Which is dumb in the first place) and for people who were not the front runners, there was nothing. I can easily see a runner thinking that they’ll get more at the next station and that they can make it another mile or so. (I have run before where a water station got missed, and due to my strange relationship with hydrating, I was ok. The runners around me whined a bit, but recovered when they got to the next station, two miles out.) At some stations, they were even giving out undiluted gatorade syrup, which is sure to dehydrate people even more.
Apparently, people (spectators) along the course were giving runners drinks out of hoses, water bottles, etc. And spraying them down.
There was no clear communication as to whether the course had closed, was closing, was closing for certain people, etc. It seems that some people were rerouted. Some were offered the opportunity to re-route, but not really told to do so. Some were told that the race was over, but they still had to make it the rest of the 26 miles to the finish line (how?). Some asked volunteers along the course for direction, and were told that the volunteers didn’t know whether the race was over or not, whether people were being picked up or not.
[QUOTE=Omegaman]
Any more stupid than any sport you care for?
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I’m guessing that Bush bashing is as aerobic a sport as our Diogenes ever gets involved in.
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus]
Of course they probably had no reason to think there would be a water shortage. All I can tell you is that completing the L.A> Marathon is still one of the proudest days of my life and I understand completely the desire to finish.
[/QUOTE]
OK, but would it have been worth your life?
Unless you’re running TO something to save it, or FROM something that’s about to eat you, there is NO reason to run in that heat.
Those people were morons, and I’d say so to any one of em I met. And let’s assume there wasn’t enough water/gatorade, even if you assume that the race organizers will be “taking care of that” little detail, don’t any of the runners have a plan b? I mean, it’s like any other race, (Indy car etc.) no one expects the track to fill up the race car with gas, you have PEOPLE for that. If you don’t have ‘people’ stop fookin runnin!
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308]
OK, but would it have been worth your life?
Unless you’re running TO something to save it, or FROM something that’s about to eat you, there is NO reason to run in that heat.
Those people were morons, and I’d say so to any one of em I met. And let’s assume there wasn’t enough water/gatorade, even if you assume that the race organizers will be “taking care of that” little detail, don’t any of the runners have a plan b? I mean, it’s like any other race, (Indy car etc.) no one expects the track to fill up the race car with gas, you have PEOPLE for that. If you don’t have ‘people’ stop fookin runnin!
[/QUOTE]
Well, I agree, once I found out that there was pretty much no water left, I would’ve like to think I would have quit and I am sure many did. I belonged to a running club that emphasized, and I mean they emphasized, that you needed to stay hydrated. I can’t say for sure but I think that as soon as it was clear there was no water, the group leaders would have had us quit.
[QUOTE=George Kaplin]
All I’ll say here is that when a dedicated runner has his eyes on the prize it can be extremely difficult to tell the difference between the body’s danger signals and the normal fatigue pains runners routinely endure during training. The poor guy probably had no idea how much danger he was in.
[/QUOTE]
I think it’s an excellent point. However, some of the people in this thread don’t give two shits about that. It was brought up before, only to have us all reminded that the runners are morons and dumbasses. Especially the fuckin’ jackass who died! In fact, he asked for it, running with his condition even though it’s harmless for most people and his own physician cleared him to race (according to his family). Let none of this sway you–that guy got what he was asking for, we’re told by Diogenes.
Who needs this October heat wave? Not me; the true humanitarian spirit exhibited by a few choice contributors to this thread just warms me through and through.
There was also a death in the Army 10-Miler in DC this weekend, also due to heat and a lack of water.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
If someone is trained to be able to take it then I don’t have a problem with them. I have a problem with the ones who stupidly try to push themselves to do something they should know they are physically incapable of in dangerous conditions and then expect public services and sympathy when they keel over.
[/QUOTE]
This refined version is much better than the OP, except the stupid part about expecting public services and sympathy. Part of the contract between race organizers and runners is that the organizers will be on top of coordinating the route marking, water stations, restrooms, emergency services, etc. If I’ve paid my $50 registration fee, there had better damned well be sufficient facilities even if my training program has consisted mainly of smoking marlboros and eating fried cheeseburgers.
Of course, as always, the pitworthy party in any racing dispute should be the people who haven’t prepared. I can just about guarantee you that most of these 300 people who fell out probably started training within the past 4 weeks and had no idea. That’s just stupid. But even so, they paid their fees and are entitled to adequate facilities and medical attention.
[QUOTE=monstro]
Someone should have held a hose to them every kilometer or something. I’ve never been to a marathon before. Do they ever do this to runners?
[/QUOTE]
There are often a mister or two along the way that feels fantastic, but cools you down for only a few minutes. Maybe onlookers who live near the race offering their home hoses, which happens a lot in San Diego, and is always much appreciated.
Dumping water on your head (when it’s available, and I’ve NEVER seen a water station, which are often every mile or less, without thousands of cups of water available) is much more common.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Heart condition, huh? No, I don’t suppose the running and the heat would ever aggravate a heart condition. I say he’s a dumbass for trying to run a marathon with a bad heart.
[/QUOTE]
His name was Chad Shieber. He was a policeman and his heart condition was unknown to him.
[QUOTE=Scylla]
His name was Chad Shieber. He was a policeman and his heart condition was unknown to him.
[/QUOTE]
kidchameleon’s Trib link is titled: Runner who died knew of heart condition, family says - Marathon death not heat-related, medical examiner says. The story was last updated at 6 pm.
[QUOTE=Scylla]
His name was Chad Shieber.
[/QUOTE]
His name was Robert Paulson.
So, 300 out of 40,000 were treated for sports related injury. That’s three quarters of one percent.
The outrage! Why, if that happened on a professional football field, there would be a guy getting medical treatment, every other week, or so.
Tris
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
I saw this on the news over the weekend and I couldn’t believe it. They had to stop a marathon early because apparently the morons who compete in these things don’t have the innate intelligence or self-preservation instinct not to try to run 26 miles in stifling heat.
[/quote]
Well, the winners, being from equitorial Africa, presumably have the physical conditioning to run in stifling heat.
And it was stifling - the temperature itself wasn’t so high, but it was very humid which would impede the natural cooling system of the body. Clearly the elite athletes could handle it, but such marathons are not run exclusively by elites.
Reports are that 10,000 just didn’t show up. While some of those may have been ill/injured/whatever, presumably several thousand had the sense to NOT run in yesterday’s conditions. That’s about 25%. Quite a few people who started the race dropped out, having listened to their bodies, without needing medical treatment.
As it is, the two marathoners from my office at work completed the race without ill effect (other than the usual marathon soreness - both of them planned in advance to take today off work to recover). Given when they stopped the race, both of them must have completed the course in under 4 hours, which means they are in good condition.
The problem is people not listening to their bodies, frequently by being so goal-oriented they ignore everything else. Such people are prone to accidents and stupid deaths regardless of their endeavors, being the sort that go around crossing gates rather than wait for the train to go past because they gotta get to work on time, not a minute late!
The person in question had a heart condition, which put him at higher than normal risk. This is not as stupid/embarrassing a death as they marathoners who have died from water intoxication.
Entering the Chicago marathon requires paying an entry fee, which goes to cover the cost of services provided. The corporate sponsor(s) (the numbers and identies have varied over the years) pay for the balance. It’s no different than the emergency services required for, say, Taste of Chicago (a week long fest downtown in the height of summer with 1,000,000+ visitors) or any other major public event downtown. Most of the time these personnel are not used, but since our society (unlike some posters) is not tolerant of leaving corpses to rot in the gutters someone has to pick up the casualities.
Again, the costs are borne by the participants themselves and corporate sponsors. I believe the police services are provided by the city, but the idea this is sucking down the tax payers money is a little off-target.
[/quote]
Because I find it really annoying and inconvenient to have to step over/around street corpses on my way to work in the morning.
Too many people have no clue how their body works nor do they know their limits because we rarely ever push ourselves further than our TV remote control any more.
I used to do the DC AIDS Ride and each year we had to sit through several hours of orientation on how not to die. We preached the “three 8’s” of hydtate, urinate and feel great. In spite of that, there were always people who didn’t drink until they were bone dry and in need of an IV.
I was somewhere at 25-30K when they called it, and walked us to the finish. I have a few observations.
The LaSalle is a winter race, usually run broadly from 30-60 degrees Fahrenheit, with low humidity.
Runners tend to train in terms of #1.
The heat wave struck rapidly, and the staff had minimal time in which to adjust the logistics.
Many of the runners did not adjust their pace to the weather.
Many of the runners relied solely on the course for water and/or gatorade and/or glucose.
As for #4 and #5, a number of runners were regrettably stupid in their conduct. Runners who made this mistake will not likely repeat said mistake. It might be useful to add directions about pacing and weather, as well as the merits of bringing one’s own hydration to the race. It seems obvious, but understand that the first time marathon runner might not appreciate the brutal metabolic realities of the marathon.
As for levying a broadside against the runners as a whole, well, fuck that. Something like 60% of the runners did finish, and the elite times were respectable. The circumstances were freakish at best.
As for the appellation “moron”, I don’t have the IQ scores to check that. although I would note that the intelligence and resources required to enter the race and to function in Chicago generally require greater than moron-level IQ scores.