Chicago

Wow. I just got an update from a friend who ran Chicago yesterday. Apparently, when the race began at 8 am, it was already hot by Chicago standards. Yesterday's race sounds like a completely different race from the one I ran last year. Completely disorganized! By the mile 10 water stop, they were completely out of water and gatorade. Runners were heading into the convenience stores to buy more, so they could keep going!

Someone tell me, if the race organizers were watching the same weather forecasts as the rest of the world, why on earth could they have not been more prepared? So, did the race organizers realize it was going to be hotter than normal, but just shrug and say, "Oh well, if we run out of fluids, then we'll just stop the race!", instead of going out and getting more? Thank God my friend and her crew had their fuel belts and had just refilled!

She said that somewhere between mile 17 & 18, cops lined each side of the street and a helicopter hovered over them and announced that everyone was to go to Grant Park because the race was being cancelled due to the extreme heat! Ummm, extreme heat? Maybe for Chicago, but for those in Houston, we train in the heat all summer. To quote one friend, that was winter in Houston. LOL! She said it was mass chaos.

Anyway, my friend and so many others are disappointed, angry and still in disbelief because of what happened. All those hours of training, only to be rewarded with a totally chaotic and unorganized experience. Ugh! I just can't believe a race of that size could be so unprepared. The heat is one thing...it's out of anyone's control. However, the water situation - that is completely unacceptable!