By Cassie Fuller
IV Leader Sports Editor, Oct. 25, 2007
The 30th annual Chicago Marathon was record breaking, not for fast times, but for the 90-degree weather. This hot scenario caused one runner to die, 49 to be hospitalized, and around 300 to receive emergency medical attention.
All of this chaos caused the race to be called off three and a half hours into the race. But the heat was not the only thing that was blamed for the problematic race—there was said to be water deficiencies at the stations because runners took more water than expected.
IVCC student Jeremy Wasilewski ran this year’s Chicago Marathon, finishing with a time of 4:12:06, and coming in 5154 out of 34897.
“The toughest part of the race for me was when I reached about mile 18 when I really started to feel the effect of the heat,” Wasilewski said, “At each of the aid stations (that was every 1 to 1.5 miles) I would drink 3 to 4 cups of Gatorade, eat a banana and drink 3 to 4 cups water. By staying hydrated enough, I felt very good throughout the entire course. I was really hoping to run the marathon in 3 ˝ hours, but towards the end of the race all I cared about was finishing.”
People get seriously injured at every marathon held because many do not properly train for the race. It is recommended that a person begins to train 18 weeks in advance.
“I have run cross country and long distance track all throughout high school and still run in many other local area races,” Wasilewski
explained.
“The reason I signed up for the marathon is because I have always wanted to run in the Chicago marathon and also just to be able to say that I have ran it. I trained for about month and a half, running five days a week, anywhere from running 3 miles to 14 miles a day.
“Besides running I would also watch what I would eat. Two weeks prior to the race I ate as much carbohydrates as possible, particularly pasta. I stayed away from dairy products and only drank water.”
Tying for the finish was Patrick Ivuti from Kenya and Jaouad Gharib from Morocco with a 2:11:11 race—that’s about a 5-minute mile. But Ivuti took the win, just winning by an arm’s length.
For the women, Berhane Adere from Ethiopia placed first with a time of 2:33:49 with Adriana Pirtea from Romania on her tail, just finishing 3 seconds behind her.
“I really enjoyed running the marathon but if I were every to run it again it would be on the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Marathon,” Wasilewski
said.
The chaos of the marathon can actually carry over to the future of Chicago, possibly hindering the chances of the 2016 Olympics being held in the Windy City. And after already being criticized for using the torch in the bid logo, Chicago’s chances for the games start to become slimmer. However, city leaders argue that the Olympics will hold a much smaller amount of athletes, which will be much easier to accommodate comparing to the almost 40,000 that ran in the
marathon.
The marathon was also hoped to show what Chicago has to offer for the World Boxing Championship, which is being held Oct. 23 through Nov. 3.