Chicago Marathon Officials Not Sweating Heat
By ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago Marathon officials expect good conditions for most of Sunday's race and aren't sweating a forecast that calls for temperatures to reach about 80 degrees in the afternoon.
By then, the top runners will be off the course and many participants will be finished or in the latter stages.
The forecast also calls for lower humidity -- a big difference from three years ago, when a 35-year-old Michigan man with a heart disorder died on a scorching, humid afternoon.
"I would imagine that the first two hours of the race should be very accommodating," executive race director Carey Pinkowski said. "I think the elite athletes are pretty much on pace. For them, it's going to be optimal opportunity to go fast. They seem to be very comfortable."
Medical director Dr. George Chiampas said the conditions back then were "very different" and "well above anything that we're going to see."
There are 45,000 runners registered and about 36,000 are expected to participate.
Defending champions Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya and Russia's Liliya Shobukhova are back and figure to be pushed by deep fields, with the winners earning $75,000.
The men's side also features reigning Boston Marathon champion Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot of Kenya and London Marathon winner Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia.
The men's race could determine the 2009-2010 World Marathon Majors series championship, with Wanjiru and Kebede tied for the lead with 50 points. A first-place finish by either would likely determine the winner, with the series wrapping up with the New York City Marathon in November.
The women's field includes three Ethiopians: Astede Baysa, a two-time Paris champion; Askale Tafa Magarsa, 2008 Berlin runner-up;and Mamitu Daksa, a 2010 Dubai champion. They're joined by Berlin champion Irina Mikitenko of Germany and top American Magdalena Lewy-Boulet.
Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson is also in the race, 25 years after delivering one of her most memorable performances to win the Chicago Marathon and set an American record of 2:21:21 that lasted until 2003.
What happened in Chicago in 2007 won't be forgotten, either.
With high humidity and the temperature soaring to a race-record 89, things took a tragic turn and the race got called after roughly four hours.
Chad Schieber, a police officer from Midland, Mich., with a condition called a mitral valve prolapse, died.
Although the coroner said it was not because of dehydration, organizers were widely accused of not supplying enough water to the runners on a day when 184 people were taken to hospitals.
After that, the number of water distribution points was increased from 15 to 20. There are now 21 medical stations. And communication systems among various agencies and the runners were improved following the 2007 race. There was a noticeable difference the following year.
"They walked a little more, maybe drank a little more if they needed it," Chiampas said. "We had a 95 percent finish rate that year. These conditions (on Sunday) are a little better than that, so we feel very prepared."
And he believes the runners will be, too.
"I think the conditions tomorrow are not very different from what they've trained in all summer," Chiampas said.
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