Should we ban marathons?

All those people who want to impress others with their "great shape".
End result of the Chicago: 1 dead, 250 hospitalized, and who knows how
many injured.

When I warned a member of this board about the dangers she was risking
participating this year to the London marathon, vicious attacks were
made on me. During that marathon one man died because no one listened
to me. How many deaths will we need to count so we finally stop that
marathon craziness!!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3340135.shtml

Marathon Leaves 1 Dead, 250 Hospitalized
Chicago Race Stopped Early Because Of High Temperature And Humidity
Comments 1
CHICAGO, Oct. 7, 2007

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4Marathon participants spread their arms as they walk
through a mist sprayed by the fire department during the 2007 LaSalle
Bank Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, in Chicago. Organizers
shut down the course and diverted runners back to the finish area four
hours after the start because of sweltering heat and humidity. (AP)



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(CBS/AP) A 35-year-old Michigan man has died while running the Chicago
Marathon in high temperatures, according to the Cook County Medical
Examiner's office. Another 250 people were taken to hospitals because
of heat-related ailments.

Chad Schieber, 35, of Midland, Mich., collapsed on the city's South
Side, according to the medical examiner's office. He was pronounced
dead just before 1 p.m. at a Veterans Affairs hospital.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning.

It was the hottest Chicago Marathon, with the previous record of 84
degrees set in 1979. Organizers shut down the course four hours after
the start because of 88-degree heat and sweltering humidity.

Runners were diverted to the starting area, where they were provided
with medical attention and cooling misters. Shortages of water and
energy drinks were reported along the 26.2-mile route.

"We're seeing a lot of our participants slowing," race director Carey
Pinkowski said. "It was a contingency plan we had in place and we
decided to implement as a precautionary measure."

An unknown number of recreational runners who made it past the halfway-
mark were allowed to continue.

Almost 10,000 of the 45,000 registered runners opted to not race in
the heat despite more mist stations, cooling buses and water-soaked
sponges.

Much of the nation saw unseasonably warm weather Sunday. Nineteen
states tied or broke their record high temperatures, according to
Accuweather.

The high in Columbus, Ohio was 91 degrees, breaking the previous high
of 88. Flint, Michigan reached 87 degrees today, surpassing the old
record mark of 84. Green Bay, Wisconsin, also saw its record high
rise, from 81 degrees to today's 84.

Kenya's Patrick Ivuti won the marathon in the race's closest finish.
Ivuti, competing in only his second major marathon, leaned at the
finish line for an unofficial time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds.
He edged Jaouad Gharib, from Morocco, who finished 0.05 seconds
behind.

"I had never seen a marathon finish up close that was like that," head
referee Pat Savage said. "This was really close, but at the same time
you could see that one man was ahead of the other."

In the women's race, Ethiopian Berhane Adere rallied to defend her
title. She finish in 2:33:49 after passing a surprised Adriana Pirtea,
who had a comfortable 30-second lead after 24.8 miles.

Ivuti and Gharib surged ahead of defending champion Robert Cheruiyot
and Daniel Njenga at the 22-mile mark to make it a two-man race.
Gharib led for much of the final four miles before Ivuti made a push
on the final mile.

"One thing I had in my mind was that everybody is going to face the
same heat," Ivuti said. "I had no problem with that because everybody
was going through the same thing as me."

The duo traded leads on the stretch run down Columbus Avenue before
Ivuti's final push at the line. The race was so close that it took
organizers several minutes to determine the official winner.

Njenga finished third, and Cheruiyot was fourth.

Cheruiyot was in position to defend his title, but stomach craps
forced him to drop back at the 22-mile mark. Cheruiyot, who last year
slipped on the finish line and banged his head on the pavement as he
raised his hands to celebrate, finished in 2:16:13.

Ivuti was the fifth straight Kenyan to win the title.

Pirtea, of Romania, waved to the crowd as she listlessly approached
the finish line. But a final push on the last mile by Adere caught
Pirtea on the final stretch.

"At 40 (kilometers), I could see she was going slowly," Adere said. "I
knew if I started working from that point on, there was a possibility
to catch her."

Pirtea tried to sprint toward the finish line, but finished three
seconds behind.

"I had tears," Pirtea said.

American Kate O'Neill finished third, and Liz Yelling was fourth.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The
Associated Press contributed to this report.

Marathon Leaves 1 Dead, 250 Hospitalized
Chicago Race Stopped Early Because Of High Temperature And Humidity

Anyone participating in any physical activity is supposed to use their
brain and
know their limits. Very few intelligent people would take on a
marathon run without months of training. Heat adds another dimension.
Its not the marathon itself. I mean seriously, ANY public event in
heat like that is going to see people keel over from heat prostration.
Maybe what they need to do is time the marathon to a cooler part of
the year, like maybe October.

Lots of guys keel over on the golf course with heart attacks, I guess
we'd better ban golf!

M.

I do not see the BFD. One of 10,000 people died, that means 9,999 did
not die. No reason to get overly excited. Some sports are probably
even more dangerous than marathons.

i

On Oct 8, 10:37 am, Ignoramus17253 ignoramus17...@NOSPAM.
17253.invalid wrote:
I do not see the BFD. One of 10,000 people died, that means 9,999 did
not die. No reason to get overly excited. Some sports are probably
even more dangerous than marathons.

i

Parachuting, car racing, hydroplane racing, ballooning, paragliding,
swimming, skiing, boxing, and sunday driving to name a few. Also, I
think the statistics show more people are killed while golfing from
getting struck by lightning than die from marathons. dkw

On Oct 8, 10:37 am, Ignoramus17253 ignoramus17...@NOSPAM.
17253.invalid wrote:
I do not see the BFD. One of 10,000 people died, that means 9,999 did
not die. No reason to get overly excited. Some sports are probably
even more dangerous than marathons.

i

I heard 30,000 people started the Chicago race. dkw

wrote in message
ps.com...

Marathon Leaves 1 Dead, 250 Hospitalized
Chicago Race Stopped Early Because Of High Temperature And Humidity

Anyone participating in any physical activity is supposed to use their
brain and
know their limits. Very few intelligent people would take on a
marathon run without months of training. Heat adds another dimension.
Its not the marathon itself. I mean seriously, ANY public event in
heat like that is going to see people keel over from heat prostration.
Maybe what they need to do is time the marathon to a cooler part of
the year, like maybe October.

Lots of guys keel over on the golf course with heart attacks, I guess
we'd better ban golf!

M.

The Chicago guy died of heart problem, not heat.

I hope the organizers of the marathon apologized to the runner's
family.

On Oct 8, 5:35 pm, "
wrote:
I hope the organizers of the marathon apologized to the runner's
family.

Funny how that works, but even though the sponsors probably felt quite
bad, it is not advisable to apologize in this situation. If the family
decides to sue, they could use that against them saying it is an
admission of guilt, even with any waivers that were signed. dkw

On Oct 7, 6:52 pm, "
wrote:
All those people who want to impress others with their "great shape".
End result of the Chicago: 1 dead, 250 hospitalized, and who knows how
many injured.

When I warned a member of this board about the dangers she was risking
participating this year to the London marathon, vicious attacks were
made on me. During that marathon one man died because no one listened
to me. How many deaths will we need to count so we finally stop that
marathon craziness!!!

I can't imagine what you must think of my riding centuries, both
imperial and metric.

wrote:

How many deaths will we need to count so we finally stop that
marathon craziness!!!

One million.

Until then, you can just be quiet.