Here's a report from a DNF'r.<br><br>
I saw 77 degrees somewhere as I was walking to the start..at 5:30 a.m. I was really quite scared. Went to the tent to meet up with my team. Everyone in great spirits and ready to go. Several first timers.<br><br>
I lined up at the 4:45 with 5 first timers. One was particularly nervous. I told her I was planning on sticking to her like glue and that we would take things extra slow due to the heat. Four of us stuck together through to mile 17. The other two went out a little faster.<br><br>
I'm a bit alarmed when we get to the first aid station and there is no gatorade. I knew we were going to need the electrolytes to get through the race. I became fully unnerved when they were out of both water and gatorade at the second aid station. Saw my family at mile 4 and told them to go buy supplies for us. I was feeling the effects of no water/heat already with early quad cramping. Too early.<br><br>
The next aid station has no water, only highly concentrated gatorade. Nearly undrinkable. Unbelievable. After that most of the aid stations had both water or gatorade, but sometimes<br>
both, but no cups. All of the stations were a mass of people clamoring for liquids. Hardly any of them could keep up with the demand and have cups poured and ready so you could just swipe a cup and go. You had to wait first for a cup, then wait for the pour. People were just totally unorderly because people were in a panic. Water stops were taking several minutes.<br><br>
Personally I was feeling hot, but pretty good once I got some hydration from my curb crew and the stations that had supplies. I was concentrating on my teammates, wanting to make sure they were getting hydration, feeling ok etc. Having others to care for was a nice distraction from worrying about myself.<br><br>
Up until about the halfway point we were in and out of shade. In the shade it was hot, but I was tolerating it way better than I would have expected for myself. Once we turned the half way though there was a dramatic change in shading and temps. Or so it seemed. There was absolutely no shade and it had warmed considerably by then. One of my girls started getting goosebumps and was chilled so we took a long time through that aid station to get lots of liquids in her.<br><br>
Somewhere around mile 15 or 16 one of the girls told me that another needed to walk. Two went ahead and I stopped to wait for the walker to catch up. I never found her. And I have lost the other two. At this point I'm really starting to feel the heat. I see my curb crew at 17 and take Advil and drink as much as I can. My stomach is feeling crappy from so much gatorade. I'm alone now, my once quiet ITB starts to twinge a bit, it's oppressively hot and sunny and I'm starting to feel a bit weak. People are dropping/have dropped everywhere around me. Ambulance sirens are non-stop.<br><br><br>
Stumble along for another mile and a half and at that point the cops start telling everyone the race is canceled and that we have to start walking. They are telling people that the clocks have stopped, that there won't be aid ahead, even that they will be ticketed for running. So I stop and start walking. It was so surreal. It felt like being in a movie about post nuclear or natural disaster survival, where the survivors are just trudging along a road and sirens are going off all over. Just unreal.<br><br>
I'm at about 20 miles when a bus comes along picking people up off the course. I'm hot, feeling shaky, alone and without water so 6 miles more of just walking seems impossible. The bus is fully packed and hotter than outside. Twice they stopped to call for an ambulance for people on the bus. I have a major meltdown as I start to feel prickly sensations in my hands and feet, not sure if I'm going to be next in the ambulance queue. Someone hands me a large block of ice and I sit with it on my neck, told myself to breathe and after that was fine. Made it back to the tent area and watched one by one for the rest of my team. Everyone makes it back eventually, everyone is fine...each with their own story of survival. Amazing.<br><br>
I didn't bother to go and cross the finish line. I think some people who were bussed in did that. If I had, I would have had a PR. But now I have a chip that I need to get back to the marathon folks so I don't get charged.<br><br>
The spectators and residents of Chicago were heroes that day. I'm convinced they saved many more runners from collapse with their generous offers of water, food and hoses.<br><br>
It's a marathon experience I'll never forget.
I saw 77 degrees somewhere as I was walking to the start..at 5:30 a.m. I was really quite scared. Went to the tent to meet up with my team. Everyone in great spirits and ready to go. Several first timers.<br><br>
I lined up at the 4:45 with 5 first timers. One was particularly nervous. I told her I was planning on sticking to her like glue and that we would take things extra slow due to the heat. Four of us stuck together through to mile 17. The other two went out a little faster.<br><br>
I'm a bit alarmed when we get to the first aid station and there is no gatorade. I knew we were going to need the electrolytes to get through the race. I became fully unnerved when they were out of both water and gatorade at the second aid station. Saw my family at mile 4 and told them to go buy supplies for us. I was feeling the effects of no water/heat already with early quad cramping. Too early.<br><br>
The next aid station has no water, only highly concentrated gatorade. Nearly undrinkable. Unbelievable. After that most of the aid stations had both water or gatorade, but sometimes<br>
both, but no cups. All of the stations were a mass of people clamoring for liquids. Hardly any of them could keep up with the demand and have cups poured and ready so you could just swipe a cup and go. You had to wait first for a cup, then wait for the pour. People were just totally unorderly because people were in a panic. Water stops were taking several minutes.<br><br>
Personally I was feeling hot, but pretty good once I got some hydration from my curb crew and the stations that had supplies. I was concentrating on my teammates, wanting to make sure they were getting hydration, feeling ok etc. Having others to care for was a nice distraction from worrying about myself.<br><br>
Up until about the halfway point we were in and out of shade. In the shade it was hot, but I was tolerating it way better than I would have expected for myself. Once we turned the half way though there was a dramatic change in shading and temps. Or so it seemed. There was absolutely no shade and it had warmed considerably by then. One of my girls started getting goosebumps and was chilled so we took a long time through that aid station to get lots of liquids in her.<br><br>
Somewhere around mile 15 or 16 one of the girls told me that another needed to walk. Two went ahead and I stopped to wait for the walker to catch up. I never found her. And I have lost the other two. At this point I'm really starting to feel the heat. I see my curb crew at 17 and take Advil and drink as much as I can. My stomach is feeling crappy from so much gatorade. I'm alone now, my once quiet ITB starts to twinge a bit, it's oppressively hot and sunny and I'm starting to feel a bit weak. People are dropping/have dropped everywhere around me. Ambulance sirens are non-stop.<br><br><br>
Stumble along for another mile and a half and at that point the cops start telling everyone the race is canceled and that we have to start walking. They are telling people that the clocks have stopped, that there won't be aid ahead, even that they will be ticketed for running. So I stop and start walking. It was so surreal. It felt like being in a movie about post nuclear or natural disaster survival, where the survivors are just trudging along a road and sirens are going off all over. Just unreal.<br><br>
I'm at about 20 miles when a bus comes along picking people up off the course. I'm hot, feeling shaky, alone and without water so 6 miles more of just walking seems impossible. The bus is fully packed and hotter than outside. Twice they stopped to call for an ambulance for people on the bus. I have a major meltdown as I start to feel prickly sensations in my hands and feet, not sure if I'm going to be next in the ambulance queue. Someone hands me a large block of ice and I sit with it on my neck, told myself to breathe and after that was fine. Made it back to the tent area and watched one by one for the rest of my team. Everyone makes it back eventually, everyone is fine...each with their own story of survival. Amazing.<br><br>
I didn't bother to go and cross the finish line. I think some people who were bussed in did that. If I had, I would have had a PR. But now I have a chip that I need to get back to the marathon folks so I don't get charged.<br><br>
The spectators and residents of Chicago were heroes that day. I'm convinced they saved many more runners from collapse with their generous offers of water, food and hoses.<br><br>
It's a marathon experience I'll never forget.
