Ok, so no doubt you have probably heard that Hattie (The Wife) has been planning for months to run her first marathon. After months of long runs in the middle of nowhere, running at 4:45 in the morning, working through injuries, and prepating herself mentally, it all came down to the big day. Nothing could have prepared her (or anybody) for the mayhem that was yesterday, October 7th, 2007. Here I hope to sum up the amazing feat Hattie pulled off as she completed her first marathon under record-setting horrible conditions.
The Backstory.
Briefly. Hattie got into running over the last few years. Trust me, I did NOT encourage this at all. Nonetheless she started running at the gym, then around town and then she started running in fun runs. After running the Free Press Half Marathon last year, she had passed the point of no return. She decided that she WOULD be running a marathon. She continued to run shorter events and even managed to sucker me into a couple of the runs she did. However, none of this was enough. Hattie decided that she must take part in the ultimate of runs. A marathon.
For those of you who don't know, a marathon is 26.2 miles. In a row. The distance was based on some Greek guy who ran around telling of an impending battle. Not important, but the Greek touch drew Hattie in even more. In the theme of going large, Hattie decided that not just any marathon would do. She picked the Chicago Marathon. The BIGGEST marathon in the world. The field was open to 45,000 runners from around the world. Many runners choose to run the Chicago Marathon in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon and the Olympics. The winner gets $125,000. They reached their maximum of 45,000 runners in April. Hattie had made up her mind. Go big or go home.
The Prep.
As a non-runner, I thought the whole 'sport' of 'running' was pretty simple. Left foot, right foot, accelerate, repeat. I was to receive QUITE the education. Aside from all of the necessary specialty items, there is quite the sub-culture among runners. Hattie soon found a number of on-line groups where she made friends and got helpful information as she prepared for the big run. Hattie developed a personalized training schedule which broke down her daily running schedule. At the peak of the training, Hattie was getting up at 4:45 a.m. to run 20+ miles on country roads while wearing a headlamp. I can't say that I was the best of supporters. Although I did have to rescue her from rainstorms a few times, I learned that my definition of 'if it really starts to rain' was not inline with hers. The rest of my motivation basically entailed my being amazed everytime I sat on the couch and watched her run out the door.
Hattie burned through countless pairs of shoes (all still laying on the bedroom floor) as she improved her pace and endurance. By the time the school year started she was already starting to 'taper down' the amount of miles she ran each week. Most all of our conversations now imvolved running and her online buddies who were giving advice. Hattie being Hattie, there was also an incredible amout of worry and stress. I think I called the hotel no less than a dozen times to be sure that we got the discount rate. After all the hard work, it finally came down to the weekend of the race. We got time off from work, talked my dad into watching the dogs for the weekend and we were off to Chicago.
It's not the heat, it's the humidity.
We all now that they call Chicago the Windy City. One of the reasons is the breeze coming off the lake and the poor weather that can result. I am told that the Chicago Marathon used to be two weeks later in the year, but they moved it to the current date as it was getting too cold. The normal weather for Chicago on October 7th is a high of 67 with a low of 48. Hattie made all kinds of preparations for layering so as to be able to stay warm at the start of the race and shed as she went on. As the race neared, she kept an eye on the weather. She got a little nervous when they predicted higher than normal temperatures and even stated that it could get into the 80's.Nothing could prepare Hattie for the weather on Race Day. Chicago broke their historical weather when the temperature rose to 87 degrees in the middle of the race. Adding to the delightful Indian Summer weather was a relative humidity as high as 75% at points during the day. Lastly, the lack of cloudcover completed the Heat Stroke Trifecta and ensured everybody would get the October tan they always dream of when visiting Chi-Town in the fall.
At least Hattie was not alone in being unprepared. It would appear that the race organizers of the Chicago Marathon underestimated the perilous results of the scorching heat and humidity. It certainly seems that they underestimated the importance of solid communication. Things started out a little bit ugly before spiraling into an abismal chaotic cluster with a side of panic.
Where's the water?
It was not long into Hattie's race when she began to notice something severly lacking at the water stations. Water. At some stations they had cups beautifully laid out on the tables promising the runners a sweet oasis. But as the runners got closer, they would see the cups were empty. At other stations there were volunteers with water, but no cups. Always the recycler, Hattie was not ashamed to use a crumpled up paper cup she found on the ground at one point. Still other water stations appeared as ghost towns, their tables folded up and no volunteers to be found. Hattie told me that there seemed to be some type of major mismanagement as, at many tables, you would have to grab a cup then wander up onto the sidewalk to find a volunteer with water and have them fill you up. Luckily my cousin Bill was with us and had the foresight to bring bottles of water. As the day progressed and the city-wide debacle unfolded in real time, residents began providing their own bottled water, people brought out hoses, fireman opened up water lines to cool people, runners swam and drank from public fountains, and Mexican Town opened the hydrants.Of course the official race directors have wasted no time in revving their spin machine. They came out within hours of the race's end to say that everywhere they went, they saw water stations with plenty of water. They even claimed that SOME stations had as many as 70,000 servings of water. They failed to mention two things. A) They went around at the BEGINNING of the race. I don't think the Kenyans had too many problems. B) They had told runners to drink one cup of water and pour another over their head. Even at the largest stations with 70,000 water servings, that wouldn't be enough to equal two cups of water per runner. Not to mention the panicked runners who thought it necessary to bathe in 7-8 cups worth. But I digress.
Race is over, go home.
As the race went on, we were lucky enough to have Cousin Bill there to hurry us around town and navigate us through alleys, subways, and the occasional sketchy neighborhood. On our way to Chinatown aboard the El (train), we started getting phone calls and hearing rumors that were unbelievable. There was a rumor going around that the race had just been cancelled. We thought 'no way'. How do you CANCEL the biggest marathon in the world? There's no way that they would let a bit of sticky weather stop the show, right? Then we got the call from Hattie. Of course, being Hattie, she made friends and found a buddy to run with. This buddy happened to have a cell phone. Hattie called to tell us that they were blocking off the race course with school buses and diverting runners. She said that people were going in a number of different directions and that the police were telling everybody they could no longer run. After a consult with Bill and a map, we were able to direct Hattie on which way to stay on the course. She was not alone. Thousands of others disregarded the 'advice' to stop running and continued on. A short time later, we saw Hattie running towards us in Chinatown, this is where we are able to give her and her buddy water and we learned from her that they were having serious problems with water. I ran with Hattie a short ways and told her to stay on the course cause she was looking so good and feeling so well. I told her this was the one time where she was allowed to ignore the cops.
While she got to stay on the course, Hattie wasn't able to keep up her pace. The police began announcing that anybody with a bib MUST walk and that they had reached a point where there was no water left and they had run out of paramedics to treat people. At other points along the race, we were told that police physically barricaded the street and advised people they would be arrested if they continued to run. Luckily, our star athlete was well ahead of those people!
Mass Confusion.
Hattie was forced to walk for several miles when course officials and police physically slowed the pace of the participants. We have since read that for a short time, they actually diverted the course - shaving off about 3 miles - in order to get people to the finish. At other points, they told runners that the race was over and loaded them onto school buses (not air conditioned) to take them to the finish. Spectators were becoming panicked as it was obvious that this was not a typical race. Nobody knew where/how to find their runners. People were unsure if they could get medals or official times (apparently this is a big deal if you're a runner...). As we walked from our last Hattie-sighting in Chinatown to the finish line, we noticed an eery sound. The entire downtown area was filled with the constant din of fire trucks and ambulances filing in and out non stop. Cousin Bill began to point out that most of the ambulances we were seeing were from suburbs 30-45 minutes away. It was clear that the race was not going well as sick and injured were all over. Nonetheless we carried on to the finish where we knew we would see our Hattie soldiering on.
The Big Finish.
After muscling our way up to the fence, we got to see what we had been waiting for all day. There was that beaming face bopping along. Hattie wore the same excited smile she had sported on her face all day. She looked like she was barely winded. She ran by waving and finished triumphantly. A herd of teeming elephants would not have kept her from her medal. When we caught up with her after the race she was smiling ear to ear and holding the prize of the day: a ribboned medalion proclaiming that she had run Chicago. As we stood outside the finish, between Marathon-running Elvis and people vomitting, Hattie proclaimed "I'm not even that tired". Good thing, Hattie. The hotel is a mile away.
The Aftermath.
All in all, the day was a thriller. Hattie ran her first marathon and she did great. She may not have gotten the time she wanted, or expected, but she finished strong and made me the proudest husband ever. 45,000 people were signed up to run. 10,000 never even started due to the horrible weather. Of those who started, 11,000 never finished. As of Hattie's finish, 315+ people had been transported to the hospital via ambulance. The saddest news of the day came when everyone learned that a man from Michigan died on the course as a result of a heart defect. Hospitals and ambulance crews became so overwhelmed that suburban teams were called in and the Red Cross had to set up a hotline so people could determine where their sick friends and relatives had been taken.
As we drove out of the city this morning on our way home, Hattie told me what I knew she had been thinking. She felt cheated. She said she finished her marathon, but didn't get to run it all as we both knew she could have. Then she read the coverage from the Chicago Tribune. A pace leader (somebody who runs a specified pace to help other runners know what speed to run) had written in to say that he had planned on running a race much quicker than Hattie's original plan. As the race neared halfway this man was woefully behind his projected time. Despite having run 15 miles, he walked before finally realizing that he could not finish. Then there was Hattie. She had gotten herself mixed up in the record-setting mess that was the 30th Chicago Marathon. Unlike 21,000 other people, she did it and she did it well.
Special Thanks.
I know that, if she knew I was writing this, Hattie would do two things. First, she would delete it. Second, she would want to thank a number of people. But I want to thank you all too! If it weren't for all of you, her friends, this never would have been possible. I can tell you all that it meant a lot to Hattie to hear such words of encouragement from all of her friends and family and coworkers. You are really the ones who carried her through and got her to the finish line. From her wonderful family who has always been behind her (travelling to Chicago and decorating the house before she got home), to her friends who made her cheer pack (thanks, I carried it all over Chi-town), to the friends and family who came down to the race, those who watched her boys while she was gone, and to everybody who has shared in her excitement... THANK YOU!
Random Pics.
Now what you really want to see: The pictures.
There's Hattie. If you can't tell, she is sticking her tongue out at the camera. Nothing is too tough for The Tack.
This is a picture from somehere near the MIDDLE of the starting gate. Runners are lined for blocks in both directions as far as we can see.
Of course, we had to get down to the race BEFORE sunrise...
Looks like everything is in order. Sun visor, number, stopwatch, gu-packets (ask Hattie) pinned to shirt, name tag so people will cheer Hattie on, and goal pace times temp. tattooed on arm? Check. Why is it pitch dark outside? Oh, well because it is 5:45, of course. Only 2hrs 15 mins to race time!!!
If only she knew how telling this sign would be. (Taken the day before the race at the expo)
Hattie at the countdown clock, located at the big Expo one day before Race Day.
I think we are excited...
Moments before the big finish. That is Hattie and her race buddy. Race buddy just happens to be another teacher from the Metro Detroit area. What are the odds?
Marathon Elvis. Note that his kid also scammed a medal.
The view in ChinaTown. What you can't see is the giant dragon on the far right side. However, this is an important part of the race as this is about where Hattie was when they began to try to shut down the race.
Yoda. This crazy bastard wore this costume the ENTIRE race. We saw him at the start and at every spot where we stopped to watch Hattie. His mask is a thick rubber mask with slits cut out for the eyes and mouth. Personally, I think I would pass out if I had to where this INDOORS at room temperature for more than 5 minutes. It turns out Yoda is a 40+ yr old Dude from the U.K. He raised over $22,000 for children's lukemia and felt that he "HAD TO" wear the costume despite the weather. On top of that? He found out the night before the race that his dad had died. Go Yoda.
Chicago Style Pizza. Dinner of Champions. Yes. She is still wearing the medal. Wouldn't you?
Finally home. And what a surprise. Mom, Dad, and Grandma decorated the house.
