Mission accomplished

Outdoor Power Equipment, Oct, 2007 by Steve Noe

As you may recall, I devoted this space in April OPE toward committing to my first marathon and challenging you to pursue a similar endeavor.

I'm happy and relieved to report that I managed to survive a Chicago record-high temperature for Oct. 7 of 88 degrees and successfully complete the 30th annual LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. The heat and humidity were so unbearable that 9,133 of the 45,000 registrants didn't even bother to start the race, and another 10,934 runners started but did not finish. In other words, only 24,933 of the 45,000 registrants finished the race. There were 315 runners taken away by ambulance, including a 35-year-old police officer from Midland, Mich., who tragically collapsed in the 19th mile and died--although an autopsy revealed it was due to a heart condition and not the heat.

With runners dropping like flies, race officials decided to cut the race short for the first time in its history at about 11:30 a.m.--nearly 3-1/2 hours after it started. When I received word of the stoppage, I was at approximately the 35kilometer mark of the 42.195-kilometer race. At first, I thought it was a joke, but soon realized that it was not. We were told to stop running and urged to walk the rest of the way. But I had sacrificed too much, trained too hard and too long (running nearly 500 miles since late April), and come too far to quit with only about 7 kilometers to go. Determined to finish, I pressed on, running and walking until I finally crossed the finish line in 5:21.37.

Since I trained hard since early June and ran the LaSalle Bank Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon on Aug. 12 in 1:57.46, I was hoping to finish the marathon in 4:30 or less. But I felt a whole lot better after comparing notes with another runner on the train ride home. He told me that this was his sixth marathon and he finished last year's Chicago Marathon in less than 4 hours. This year, it took him 5:33. That put everything into perspective for me in terms of just how devastating of a toll that the heat and humidity took on everyone.

Aside from being tired, I felt relatively fine following the race. I had a couple of blisters on my feet and a sore left shoulder, but my legs surprisingly were not that sore. In fact, from the time I woke up until the time I returned home, I somehow managed to gain a pound, so I believe that I was well hydrated during the race. I should be fully recovered in plenty of time for GIE EXPO Oct. 25-27 in Louisville, Ky., and hope to see you there.