Chicago Marathon
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gfd posted 38 weeks ago.
It can't hurt to try. However, I missed the time by 20 seconds in 2002 (the temp was not in the 90's though) and asked for early entry. I was 34 at the time so my time was good for the following year (Q times are good for 18 months and can be used twice) when I turned 35 and had 5minutes added to my Q time. I had friends going and really didn't want to wait a year and a half. They said "our standards are our standards. See you in a year and a half." Maybe they will make an exception for Chicago this year.
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beads1985 posted 38 weeks ago.
I don't think they make exceptions for any race conditions.
It would probably open up a can of worms and be an administrative nightmare for all the people that might have exceptions.
You have to accept the fact that the Race dirtectors only have so much control over race conditions. Unfortunately weather is not guaranteed :rolleyes:
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brittda posted 38 weeks ago.
beads1985;82136 wrote:
I don't think they make exceptions for any race conditions.
It would probably open up a can of worms and be an administrative nightmare for all the people that might have exceptions.You have to accept the fact that the Race dirtectors only have so much control over race conditions. Unfortunately weather is not guaranteed :rolleyes:
I would agree.... there is no variance for races in the summer, you caught a hot day. If you are that close , chances are you can do it again. Sign up for another race and qualify. You have 6 months to do it :)
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PrinceofClydes posted 38 weeks ago.
So what was the humidity on Sunday - 95 degrees is routine at IMC, we live in a desert so it is very dry.
Of course, I don't run at Boston q-pace, but I'd like to know why so many were collapsing at Chicago.
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stewarba posted 38 weeks ago.
Thats a great question because everything I hear indicates that the high was in the mid to upper 80s with high humidity. Obviously not the best conditions, but it should be doable if your in decent shape. I have heard there was fluid shortages at the aid stations, but it seems to be a mixed bag - some say there was none and others say there was plenty.
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brittda posted 38 weeks ago.
PrinceofClydes;82146 wrote:
So what was the humidity on Sunday - 95 degrees is routine at IMC, we live in a desert so it is very dry.
Of course, I don't run at Boston q-pace, but I'd like to know why so many were collapsing at Chicago.PoC
EXACTLY -- I am confused as well. It was mid 90s the first time I did IMC going into the run. Disney was mid 80's and HUMID (95 per cent or so they said ) this last January (although there was water)..I was drenched from sweat and the humidity to the point my husband asked me at the 1/2 if I had been dumping water on myself... "UH no, this is sweat" I said after giving him a hug (ahahahhahaahha)
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CGroth posted 38 weeks ago.
i think the people were just not prepared for such extreme weather. i have a friend who ran it and she said that during her training she was preparing for probably weather in the 60s or 70s. that changes your preparation. also, i guess there are only a couple of aid stations so when you start getting dehydrated it is difficult to combat that quickly enough. i believe that the start last year was in the 30s, pretty large range of temperatures. congrats to whoever finished it this year in the face of adverse conditions.
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JohnieTri posted 38 weeks ago.
I did Chicago in 2005 and I believe it started around 30-40 degrees and only warmed up to about 55, perfect weather. However, I'm with the others. At IMKY this year, the temps were low to mid 90's on the bike and upper 80's to 90 on the run. Heck, the water temp at race time was close to 84. Must have been very little hydration or ill-prepared runners.
-Johnie
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beads1985 posted 38 weeks ago.
Chicago has been trying to make themselves a huge event, and get bigger every year.
They were reported to have 45,000 + entrants.
It is a flat course, and it attracts a lot of first timers and people trying to qualify for Boston.
The event used to be a few weeks later in October, which makes a big difference af far as weather goes.
Add to that a shortage of volunteers, a lack of fluids at the aide stations and some poor resource management and you have a recipe for problems.
They are reported to be considering a lower cap on the number of race entrants, a change back to a later date in October, and better management of the aide stations.
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RV posted 38 weeks ago.
The Milw. Lakefront marathon was going on at the same time as Chicago - tho about 5 degrees cooler - as we are a little North. So, about mid 80's and the humidity was high 70's to mid-80's. Not really too bad - especially at the tail end of summer. We had some people go down, but nothing like in Chicago.
Tho there are some nice shaded sections on the course and the last couple miles are along the lake so temps drop there. I don't know the Chicago course - they may have been baking out in the direct sun for the full race.
RV
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oztrigal posted 38 weeks ago.
Even if race training hadn't prepared me for the hot conditions, when i'd seen the weather forecast I would have got myself a fuel belt and carried drinks with me.
In the grand scheme of things, the extra weight's not going to make that much difference. Especially when compared to dehydration...
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Ultimatum posted 38 weeks ago.
I felt like there were just enough aid stations during the race. There definitely could have been more though. While I was going through every single one drinking at least 2 gatorades, 2 waters, and dumping 2 waters on my head. Towards the end, I was dumping up to 5 waters on my head at each aid station.
I would say I was pretty well prepared for the heat because all of my long runs were run in mid-day summer heat. My friend ran all his long runs at around 5 AM when it was much cooler- and he finished 1.5 hours off of his goal time.
I did hear a few stories about them running out of water at the aid stations- that would have been awful. There was also the issue of shade- essentially zero shade for the second half of the race. Only one aid station was a complete mess where there just weren't enough volunteers and I had to grab my own water/gatorade directly off the table. That was very frustrating but I made it through it.
I definitely realize now that the BAA has no reason to make any exceptions. The weather is something that is completely out of their and our hands and we have to just deal with it.
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brittda posted 38 weeks ago.
It definately is disappointing when the weathe does not cooperate. I know last year for the disney marathon, it was in the 30's and 40's here when we were training and race day it hit 85. BIG temperature swing. Seems to happen though for that race more often than not. One year we did get lucky and have 30's for the start. Winter/fall races are hard to gauge. I know at the Seattle marathon a few years ago there was freezing rain and people were getting hypothermia. Last year at the Vancouver Marathon some waterstops ran out of cups on the half while others on the full course ran out of water (BAD planning). There was no water from mile 12 on if I remember correctly:mad:
For IMC this year we headed east of the mountains to get heat when training in anticipation of a hot race day. Luckily this year the weather was more temperate (70's I believe) than in previous years.
Sometimes you just have to do the best with what you are given. Kinda sucks though when you have put the effort into training.
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triri posted 38 weeks ago.
Ultimatum,
what are you doing with all that Gatorade and water? In ran Chicago too and drank 1 Gatorade per station and used 1 water to cool down. I even skipped some Gatorade around miles 12-14 because I started to feel my stomach filling up. Soaking the cap with water keeps the head cool until the next station.
I skipped the fire hydrants too (looked like a lot of fun!). A soaking wet jersey seems to make things worse - at least for me.
I have to admit though that I was lucky to finish before the biggest heat (3:13:14).
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Ultimatum posted 37 weeks ago.
Well triri, you came in just ahead of me then...(3:15:58)
I can't tell you where I was putting it but I definitely needed it all. I tend to sweat A LOT.
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ckinsey posted 37 weeks ago.
Well, you both finished way ahead of me, which is probably why there was water and gatorade for you. I started with the 4:30 pace group and found the first 2 aid stations to be very low or out of fluids. The race directors are blaming it on the faster people at the front using up all the water, by dumping it on their heads. I think they should have had more water stations at the beginning of the race, (like every mile for the 1st 7 miles or so. A lot of people didn't get water or gatorade until mile 6 or 7. By that time they were so far behind on hydration, there was no way to catch up.
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brittda posted 37 weeks ago.
Ultimatum;82562 wrote:
Well triri, you came in just ahead of me then...(3:15:58)I can't tell you where I was putting it but I definitely needed it all. I tend to sweat A LOT.
HOW do you do that???!!! I avoide dumping water on myself like the plague---unless perhaps its on a sponge. other wise you get it in your feet....wet feet=wet socks. Wet socks= BLISTERS
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beads1985 posted 37 weeks ago.
brittda;82617 wrote:
HOW do you do that???!!! I avoide dumping water on myself like the plague---unless perhaps its on a sponge. other wise you get it in your feet....wet feet=wet socks. Wet socks= BLISTERS
I usually bend ove and dump it on the back/top om y head and the excess runs of or I just lean back as I splash a little bit on my face.
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brittda posted 37 weeks ago.
I even hate running through the water stations when people do that....water everywhere. For some reason its worse than rain, maybe because its large ammts being dumped on my feet?
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Ultimatum posted 37 weeks ago.
I had some wet feet but I never got any blisters. It was so hot I didn't even care, I needed to be cooled down.
Honestly, a blister isn't going to stop me or even slow me down though. I would have definitely run through that.
Yes I survived the 2007 Chicago Marathon from HELL!!!
I would say it was just as brutal as all the news reports made it out to be: 73ºF at the start and a high of 93ºF.
So here is my question though, has anyone heard of the Boston Athletic Association granting any leeway for runners that just missed there qualifying time in some nasty conditions?
I have to imagine that Chicago typically provides a large percentage of qualifiers and that percentage was significantly lower on Sunday.
Let me hear some of your thoughts on this.