Overheating at the Chicago Marathon

I was dismayed to hear the news of the death of one runner and the distress of many other runners at the Chicago Marathon yesterday. (It has been reported that the man died as a result of a heart condition, not the heat, but I don't see how the heat would have helped the situation.)

The weather which was supposed to be around 66 degrees F, was in the high 80s, and some even said in the 90s. And apparently the water stations were not stocked well, and they were out of water very early in the race.

I have done several marathons, including the Chicago one. I am a walker, not a runner, and I walked the marathon there. (They have since closed the marathon to walkers, because they don't want the streets closed for that long.)

I enjoyed all three marathons, but Chicago was my favorite. The crowd support is fabulous for the race. You wind around through a lot of different ethnic neighborhoods, and all the way people line the street to cheer you on.

The year I did it, they started the walkers out 2 hours before the runners. That meant our starting time was 5:30. I am not a morning person, but I bounded out of bed, so excited to get to the starting line. There was a full moon, and walking through the downtown area with the full moon to guide us was magical to say the least.

That year, the weather was cool. I get dehyrdated easily, so I took my own water. My experience is that there is never enough water at the water stations, so I didn't want to risk overheating. Since it was cool, I didn't feel the need to drink often, but I made myself. Despite that, at the end of the 26.2 miles, I limped back to my hotel, which was downtown and close to the race site, and climbed into bed. I shook under the covers for close to two hours, scaring my roommate. I am not sure what was wrong with me, but I think I was still dehydrated. I told my roommate, who had also done the marathon, that I thought I would be OK, all the while shaking as if I had a fever and the flu. Sure enough, several hours later, even though I was not OK enough to go dancing with the rest of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Team in Training runners and walkers, I was sure OK enough to go out and have dinner.

(It did occur to me later that maybe I wasn't dehyrated but too hyrdated. Since the marathon, I have read that marathoners can drink too much water, leading to a whole set of problems. How to strike the balance, I am not sure.)

I also did marathons in Alaska and San Diego, and felt sick after both. After Alaska, a friend said I was babbling and insisted I go to the first aid tent. They said I was dehyrated. I laid down for a while and was fine. In San Diego, the temperature was 10 degrees hotter than they expected that day, and we had some overheating problems too, but nothing that seemed to rise to the level of the problems in Chicago this year. I did fine, and helped someone else who was ill get on the shuttle bus back to the hotel.

But later that night, it hit me and I felt light headed, so much so I wasn't sure I should go out to dinner. Near the elevator, I was so lightheaded, I had to lay down on the floor. A man getting off the elevator didn't have a clue and said "Nice place to take a nap!" Later I felt fine and enjoyed dinner and cocktails. A member of our team wasn't so lucky though--she had such bad diarrhea and nausea, she had to go to the hospital. The epidsode pushed her into being borderline diabetic.

So marathons are not for the timid. It takes a lot of training and willpower. And like other things, the best laid plans can go awry. You may feel sick for some reason or other.

But what I can't understand is how a race course wouldn't have enough water or Gatorade, and even food along the way. One of the races I did had advertised they would have food at rest stations, and all they had were orange slices. I don't count that as "food." When you are running a race, you may not need food, but when you are walking the course and are out there between 6 and 9 hours, you really need some food! Luckily, again I took some snacks--ranging from granola bars to a bagel with peanut butter.

Marathons are great, and I wish everyone would try it at least once. You feel a sense of accomplishment and meet some great people. For the marathoners this year in Chicago, the great people included those lining the street, who filled the gap yesterday by offering runners bottles of water and cold drinks.