CRAZINESS! I've done some crazy backwoods, disorganized races. This one takes the cake for survivorship mentality and overall unbelievableness (is that a word?).
I am not even sure where to start on this story; I hope I can make it make sense. This is by far, the most bizarre marathon experience I have ever had! If you want to read the experience of other runners, check out the comments on www.marathonguide.com.
For my faithful readers, you know that I trained in super-hot, humid conditions this summer to get ready for the Chicago Marathon. I learned a lot through that training. It turns out what I thought I was learning, mental toughness etc, wasn’t as important as some very important knowledge of my own physiology that I gained when I wasn’t paying particularly close attention to those things.
A week before the marathon, the weather was predicted to be warm. The Thursday before the marathon we received an e-mail with a weather advisory. I was not particularly concerned about the weather and decided to adjust my pace to be 5-10 sec per mile slower than I had originally planned on running, especially since I planned to run slower than I believed my current fitness allowed.
I ran about a half mile to warm up and waited at the start line. It was warm and seemed warmer because of all the bodies. Within the first mile of the race, we ran through a long tunnel that felt like an oven! I really felt like I was running slowly, but was only 5 sec slower than revised pace. It turns out, that would be my fastest mile of the day. By mile two, I was completely soaked with sweat and listening to my body, I slowed down.
I skipped the first two water stops because I was wearing a Camel-Bak with Sustained Energy, a couple of Hammer Gels, and Endurolytes in it. I couldn’t figure out why people were leaving the course in Lincoln Park. I realized later that they were getting water from the fountains! There was no water at the water stations. After mile six, I had to start walking through the water stations because there were so many slippery, waxy cups on the ground. My pace slowed even more whenever we lost the shade from the buildings and were in full sunlight. The wonderful spectators had their hoses out spraying runners. I got the chills at mile 8 and started working on that problem by eating one Sport Bean and drinking more water. I stopped looking at my watch and the course clocks before mile 10. Just after mile 10, I saw a friend at a water station, and he and I ran walked together. We saw a bank (completely in the shade of buildings) that had a temp reading of 80 degrees and it wasn’t even 10 am yet! He and I ran and walked through the water stations so we didn’t slip. I let him go at the half marathon point because I slowed to call my husband who was to meet me at mile 23 with Bubbles, a cousin, and cousin’s wife. I told him it was going slow, very slow. I was listening to my body and consuming a lot of water (and Sport Beans). At this point, I stopped counting ambulances taking people from the course at 25 ambulances!
At the water stations after mile 14 and 16 the fun began! At first of these two water stations, there were two tables that still had water, each with one 2.5 gallon water container. Volunteers were pouring it into cups that runners had. There was not one clean cup in sight. I opened my bladder on my Camel-Bak for a little splash and came up to one of the tables. A woman was just standing there yelling at the two volunteers with the water “only half way, fill those cups only half way!!” The volunteers were not listening; they were filling cups as fast as they could. When I put the bladder over the table for a bit of water saying “just a couple splashes”, she said “no way!” I said, “Why don’t you SHUT UP and go find some more water” as the volunteers added some water to my pack! Shortly after this, I saw an American Red Cross Disaster Services vehicle. I thought, “Hhhmmm, I haven’t seen one of those since Katrina.” This was not boding well.
At mile 16, there was no water to be seen. The spectators had gotten cases of water and handing them out – they were getting mobbed by grateful runners. Spectators had also bought bags of ice and were handing those out. I grabbed some ice and stuffed it down my bra-top and showed a few other women what to do. It really helped cool my core as I was really over-heated at this point. Many of those women thanked me a couple of miles later, remarking how much better they felt. While the ice melted, I fished small pieces out and ate them. At some point, a woman was handing out cold apples. I took one and ate it! It tasted phenomenal! The spectators turned out to be the heroes of this marathon!
Every few miles, I was able to replenish my ice cache thanks to thoughtful spectators. At this point, I formed an alliance with a woman named Stacy. She and I helped each other procure water, ice, cold grapes etc. We also watched out for each other and made sure the other person was ok. At mile 18 Stacy and I were told by numerous police officers and race officials that we had to walk. We were mostly walking anyway, but we found that request bizarre! In fact, when we did start running, we got screamed at over the bullhorn by the cops.
Now what I am about to write, I would not believe if it didn’t happen to me! At mile 19, I began to hear announcements that the race had been CANCELLED! WHAT?!!? I laughed. I have never been part of an event where they just cancelled it in the middle of everything. Between 19 and 20, the scene was just too bizarre. A cop stood in front of us and told a big group of us that we had to stop. WHAT? We were all doing just fine (thanks to the spectators and a little teamwork). The cop said, “Go down this side road (pointing) and buses will pick you up.” I said, “Really? I don’t see any buses. Do you see any buses?” The people around me said “what buses?” The cop said “They will come and get you.” I told him “Sir, with all due respect, but this Louisiana Girl is not going down that street and getting on a bus that she can’t see!” He looked at me strangely. I said one word “Katrina.” He motioned in the direction of the course and said “onward.” We all moved forward on the course.
There were no buses at that point, but I was soon about to see a bus in a big way. I called my husband and told him that we had been told to walk and also what happened with the cop. He said, “Of course there are no buses there. They are all right here. They are lined up and drivers are in them.” I get off the phone with him to see a bus -- a bus pulling across the course blocking the road. I couldn’t believe it! They blocked the course with a yellow school bus! I decided I was not getting on that bus (which turned out to be a good decision – more later) and that I was going around it. Then the CFD turned on a water cannon. No lie. This was not a spray in an arch over the road as I saw on other parts of the course. This was a very large stream of water about 2 or 3 feet off the ground designed to be a road block. If I had gone through that water I would have been knocked off my feet! I scurried around the water before it got going full blast and around the bus! Then I turned and saw that Stacy had followed me. I told her, “I am finishing this thing!” Really in my mind I was thinking “Louisiana runner gets arrested trying to finish Chicago Marathon.” I think this happened around mile 20. The next couple miles were relatively quiet except for the cops on the bullhorns telling us to walk and that the race was cancelled. I think I had been smiling for 3 or 4 miles – I was having a great time! What an adventure! However, it was sad to see all the people lying on the side of the road, cramping, vomiting, and crying. Also, when we did see buses again people were being stuffed into them and hanging out of the windows. Someone told me later they were on a bus where two people had seizures because it was so hot. You couldn’t have paid me to get on an un-air-conditioned bus with all those hot people.
I couldn’t wait to see my husband and Bubbles. He told me they were waiting (and waiting and waiting) at mile 23. It turns out he was in mile 24. He was on a portion of the course where it turned. I could see him in the distance holding Bubbles above his head. She was smiling and waving like crazy at all the runners! He had her onesie pulled down to her waist and the first thing I thought was “my child is naked in public!” I didn’t say anything – He’s an extremely good dad and he knew just what to do to keep her comfortable. I was so happy to see all of them. I was happy to see Bubbles having such a great time. I quickly kissed and hugged everyone (cousin, wife, husband and Bubbles), but Bubbles hugged me so hard she wouldn’t let go! I didn’t want to go.
When I left them, all I wanted to do was run and run fast. I was so pumped. Also, at this point it felt much better to run than to walk as I had trained to run the distance – not walk. Stacy and I found a HUGE chunk of ice in the road. I picked it up and gave it to her and she stuffed it in her shirt. She looked like she had a giant tumor. We decided to run for a bit. She had to hold the ice block while she ran. After a while she gave it to me and I stuffed it and held it. We traded this ice back and forth for a mile or so. We were a sight to see! We were able to run most of the last 2.2 miles. I finished the race more than 1.5 hours later than I had planned! It is a Personal Worst (PW), but one I will savor. I saw the city in a new light, and I believe the citizens of Chicago are some of the best people anywhere.
At the finish line people were still dropping like flies. AND, there was tons of WATER! No ice, but lots of water. The race director did not lie when he told the press that the race had plenty of water. It simply wasn’t distributed correctly. I walked through the finishing chute, found my husband, and we walked about 1 mile to the car where his cousin picked us up. Bubbles couldn’t stop touching me. I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing at the whole thing!
Some final thoughts:
Many of the “finishers” (24,000 of the original 45,000 signed up) were people who were brought back to the finish line but didn’t do the whole course. Somewhere around mile 22 race officials were telling people if they got on a bus, they would be brought to the finish and still get a medal. I wouldn’t have taken the medal, but do not fault the people who did.
Someone I know (who is faster than me) got taken off the course at the halfway point and told to make her way to the finish. She estimates she covered 20-22 miles because she never saw a bus and had to walk back to Grant Park. She DNFed. I am very sad for her.
I thought about DNFing at mile 10. At this point I still had the chills. I thought, “This isn’t worth the physiological stress and the wear on my legs.” Then I realized I could keep ignoring the clock and see the city, make the most of the situation, and be smart about it and maybe learn something. I got rid of the chills soon after and was set on finishing even though I knew it was going to be a PW. I learned a lot that day about managing my physiology and correcting those problems. I am proud to say that I “participated in” and completed the 2007 Chicago Marathon!
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