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Chicago Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Chicago Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.7 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.9
Number of comments: 949 [displaying comments 341 to 351]
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CAROLYN VANDER VELDE from Crestwood, IL
(10/11/2007)
"Great Job by Everybody" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Having run Chicago 3 other times, plus being race director for a small 5k, I know the huge logistics involved in this megarace. Mega because of the sheer numbers of support people for 45,000 runners. The emergency plan was basically flawless considering it had never been implemented before. The goal is safety for the runners. The fact that we did not lose one runner to heat stress is a huge credit to the emergency plan and personnel. I will certainly run Chicago again. And I learned never to run a marathon without carrying some fluid and cash. | |
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A. S. from Jonesboro, Arkansas
(10/11/2007)
"2007 was terrible for organization!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I was very disappointed in the 2007 Chicago Marathon. The water stops were not adequate, and organization overall seemed poor. I would not recommend this marathon. | |
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Carey Ramirez from New York City
(10/11/2007)
"Stop whining!!!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The Chicago Marathon experience was amazing! The weather can't be controlled by race organizers. The proper education and training during summer months prior to this marathon should have prepared runners physically and mentally for the challenge of the day. From my perspective, there was water and Gatorade aplenty. I empathize with those whose bodies broke down, but for the others...stop whining and start training! | |
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J. B. from Wisconsin
(10/11/2007)
"Huge disapointment for a marathon" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This is the third time I've run this race and it was the worst of the three. I am a 3:45 3:55 marathoner, nothing great, but decent. I purposely brought my own gatorade, energy gel, etc, and ran slower than usual knowing that the heat would make it probally impossible for me to set a PR. With this in mind my plan was to finish the race and not worry about how long it took. At around mile 22-23 we were told to stop running that the race was shut down, the clocks turned off, and that our time didn't matter since the clocks were turned off. So the group of guys I was in shut it down and walked it in from that point. To our disappointment we were surprised to see what I would consider a bogus finishing time registered for each of us. The actual time was over an hour above what is typical for me, plus how can they give us a finishing time when they call off the race and tell us we must now walk? I realize that LaSalle Bank was probally trying to cut their expenses with the purchase of their company, but I am going to have to re-think if I am ever going to run this race again due to how the day in general was handled and how they stopped us from running, but still counted our time even though the race was long over and we were just trying to get off the course. | |
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T. B. from Chicago
(10/11/2007)
"7-Time CHICAGO MARATHONER" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 6+ Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 As a 7-time Chicago Marathoner, I would DEFY ANYONE to use ONE RACE as the benchmark for a race that has gone smoothly 29 times PRIOR. It was HELLFIRE hot outside. My ONLY ISSUE was when Carey Pinkowski - Marathon Director and a competitive runner himself - seemed SURPRISED that runners would pour water onto themselves.... I WILL BE RUNNING AGAIN next year. | |
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S. W. from Texas
(10/11/2007)
"Mixed feelings" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I've run NYC, Boston, Nashville, San Diego, White Rock, and several others in the past 3 years and know a little about these big races. I wanted to do Chicago and hoped to get back to Boston. Like everyone else, I am angry at the failure to provide sufficient fluids. I started in C and guess I'm one of the ones who drank too much and am now getting blamed (sorry guys, if I had known taking 3 cups per station in the 2nd half would make them run out so soon I wouldn't have). Except the fluid/heat problem, I have to say I enjoyed everything else about the weekend. Too bad it's in the 40's now up there. I am in Texas, ran in the heat, and knew it was going to be warm. I carried electrolyte tablets, gels, and a sponge and knew what to expect. THINGS I LIKED A LOT: The Hilton Expo Art Institute proximity of hotel to start/finish the start the course the crowds the volunteers the flow I was on pace to qualify for Boston through the half until I started cramping and slowed it down. I was able to finish, so of course my experience is different from many others, and I sympathize with you. The finish area was well organized and the medics who attended me twice were wonderful. If nothing else, when I tell people I finished it, it gets their attention. This race has achieved a notoriety unlike any others I've heard of. I know that I am stronger for running CM and am glad I did. | |
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Alison Runner from Chicago, Illinois
(10/11/2007)
"Swiss clockwork maelstrom" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I've heard people say that the Chicago Marathon has a global reputation for running as smoothly as the Swiss clockwork. Sunday this wasn't the case. As a runner, what I like about this race is that normally everything is taken care of. All you have to do is train through Chicago summer heat (or anywhere else) and show up race day. We expect that no matter what temperature, we will at least be taken care of. There are people who run marathons on Antarctica and through Death Valley. They had been predicting that weather would be bad. Were the race officials really, truly prepared? If they were expecting 45,000 runners to show up, and 35,000 made it to the start line, shouldn't they in theory have had MORE SUPPLIES than normal? Chicago is a great running town, but a tough town. Does anyone remember the springtime Lakeshore Marathon that basically ceased to exist, after they mismeasured the race from 26.2 to 27 or so miles? Let's hope this marathon does not experience a similar fate! Unfortunately, one bad year can mean the end to something wonderful. They should have given runners the option to proceed or actually offered buses for those who wanted them. I didn't see buses even if I wanted to go back. I also heard mention of cooling areas. The aid station I went to had two bags of ice for the whole day. Is that what you call 'doing everything we could?' Why say the race is cancelled, then publish results in the Tribune? If you tell someone to walk a race (sometimes with police enforcement), then publish their time, isn't that disrespectful? Basically, anyone who finished in over 3h50 doesn't count anyhow; yet, they still published false results for the world! I will still be back, but I would like a discount or a free entry. That's the least they could do to keep from tarnishing our image! I love Chicago as a life-long resident. But arrogant Mayor Daley needs to KEEP people coming to the city, instead of bragging about why people should come. | |
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B. R. from Indiana
(10/11/2007)
"Brutal Day" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Hats off to anyone who started this race and great respect for those who finished. I started out 3 minutes after the gun time knew by mile 6 it was going to be a tough day. I ran the ING Atlanta marathon in March of this year and thought that it was bad but this day I felt was even worse. Possibly due to the later start. I did finish in just over 4 hrs and will be back again someday. | |
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E. D. from Toronto, Ontario
(10/11/2007)
"Thank you Chicago!" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 Thank you, to all the volunteers, spectators and supporters along the marathon route. Without you I would have dropped out of the race, but I completed it one hour longer than my usually time. Thank you especially China Town and the Latino Area. | |
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K. C. from Suburban Chicago
(10/11/2007)
"Marathon Meltdown Made Worse by Blaming Runners" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 4-5 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 LaSalle Bank is not just sponsor of this marathon. They own it. But LaSalle was sold on October 1 to Bank of America. They announced 2,500 layoffs in Illinois. I mention this because it might be a part of the complex picture of what went wrong on Sunday, October 7. The ten-day forecast leading up to the marathon indicated that it would be unusualy hot. LaSalle sent an e-mail advisory to the runners on Thursday, October 4, that said, 'Be sure to stay hydrated during the race. Make note of aid stations and prepare to utilize them. You will need to drink more to compensate for the rapid depletion of your body's fluids in the heat.' I carried a water bottle, added an additional two minutes to my 9:30 pace, stayed in the shade as much as I could, and made it around the course in 5:00:14. I put my myself as far forward in the open corral as I could, figuring I'd have a better chance to get water before the aid stations ran out. It was a pretty safe bet that they would with the heat, and they did. What was surprising was that they ran out of water at the second and third water stops, in the early miles of the race. The stories of what happend when 10, and 11, and 12 minute runners came through those water stops are hard to read. Things unraveled as the morning wore on. Sirens were constant. Every medical tent I ran by was full. It seemed that 18th and Ashland was 'ground zero' in terms of blistering hot sun and no shade. The only sponges on the course were at mile 20! Along the Dan Ryan expressway, there was a water stop with stacked cups of water, but no people handing it out. The volunteers were gone. I didn't know yet that the race had been stopped. By the time I got to Michigan Avenue, the volunteers were shouting to keep your cups because they had run out. I thought, 'the Chicago marathon ran out of cups?' Frantic volunteers were in the middle of the street pouring bottles of water on runners. The scene on Michigan Avenue was surreal. Firefighters were on bull horns saying that the race was over, but they were shouting it made no sense. It wasn't until after I crossed the finish line that I found out about the thousand of runners who had been stopped at the half-way point, re-routed along Jackson, and sent through the finish area in the wrong direction to register their chips on the timing mats. It was crazy. I understand why the city shut it down. It was out of control. The fire department was out of ambulances and mutual aid was coming in from the suburbs. Over three hundred runners went to hospitals. I have no idea how many were triaged onsite. October 7 was a bad day. I think most of us who experienced it, would have been sympathetic to the event managment team. But on Monday they started a media spin that was astonishing. Race Director, Carey Pinkowski, blamed the runners for what happend. I was speechless when I saw him on the news. He said he had done all he could to prepare and that he was happy with the result. He was happy with a DISASTER. On Tueday, October 9, Mayor Daly backed him up, saying that people who do outdoor sports 'have to learn how to be prepared.' It was so insulting. The writing is on the wall. LaSalle is leaving the 2007 particpants high and dry again, without an apology. Shame, shame, shame on them. |
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