On the hottest day in the history of the Chicago Marathon, the 26.2 mile race was stopped prematurely because of the dangers posed to runners. Sadly one man collapsed and died and more than 300 people were taken to either hospitals or medical stations.
According to marathon spokeswoman Marianne Caponi, 312 people were taken to hospitals or treated at medical stations throughout the course of the marathon.
With temperatures reaching 88 degrees — the hottest in Chicago’s history on this date — many people cut their run short.
Caponi said there were 35,867 people at the marathon’s start, and 24,933 completed the race.
Compared to last year, tens of thousands of fluid servings were added throughout the course along with 15 extra cooling buses and ten extra “drop-out buses,” which enabled the more than 10,000 halted runners to exit the course for free on the CTA.
Runners who had not reached the halfway point — the 13.1-mile mark near Halsted and Adams — were stopped about 11:45 a.m. and rerouted towards Grant Park, Caponi said.
A contingency plan was put in place earlier this week by the city and marathon organizers, who determined that the course would be closed and runners would be brought back to Grant Park if the temperatures went up and runners’ speeds went down, Caponi said.
That is so sad.
Comment by Gerri — October 8, 2007 @ 11:04 pm
It wasn’t Chicago’s best moment. Future years will be better.
Comment by Michael — May 11, 2008 @ 9:35 pm