Killer Chicago Marathon

One dead, 250 treated! That sums up the grueling 2007 Chicago marathon. Race day temperatures on Sunday broke the record for both starting temperature and high temperature, which were 70 degrees and 84 degrees F set in 1979.”That’s a record we’re not really that excited about,” Race Director, Pinkowski had told the media on Saturday during another press conference held to brief the media This years Chicago Marathon will remind you that running a marathons is not a fun run. It is a brutal journey that does damage to the body. In my article is marathon running good for you? I wrote how marathons can do damage if you don’t do your marathon training.  Marathons have gone mainstream and more people are running 42K.  Finishing times have gotten slower and slower over the years, which means many of the runners in these mega-events are often inexperienced and don’t know their bodies or their limits.  In the 2007 Chicago Marathon about 10,000 runners of the registered 45,000 runners opted not to start. It must have been a difficult decision for these runners to opt out even before the marathon begun. This is not giving up but knowing your limits. Of the remaining 35,000 starters, 10,934  did not finish. While only 4,000 runners were able to finish in under 3 hours 30 minutes.  Paul Gardiner, a runner from England, said the weather made for a “brutal” run.

“We were at about 18 miles and we heard they canceled it and that kind of sent a little bit of concern through the crowd,” he said. “It’s just it’s impossible to run.”

The 88-degree heat and sweltering humidity were so draining that organizers shut down the second half of the course 3 1/2 hours after the start. “We’re seeing a lot of our participants slowing,” said Pinkowski, before the decision to stop the race was made. 

My Heart and Prayers go to the family of Chad Schieber, 35, of Midland, Michigan. He collapsed while running on the South Side and was pronounced dead shortly. Chad was one of us, a marathon runner like you and me. 

Ivuti Conquers Chicago Marathon

How could I have been so wrong? In my bold predictions of the winner of Chicago marathon I did not include Patrick Ivuti the winner of the 30th Chicago marathon. Kenya’s Patrick Ivuti won, leaning at the finish line to edge Jaouad Gharib of Morocco by 0.05 seconds. Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere rallied to successfully defend her women’s title.

Patrick Ivuti is unknown even here in Kenya, Yesterday at Chicago Marathon, the bold runner was competing only in his second major marathon. To finish the way he did, sprinting at the last distance to edge seasoned marathon runner, Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, I have to give him my congratulations. His courage and determination inspires us all.  

It was a tough Chicago Marathon for both Seasoned marathon runners and runners like you, Paul Gardiner, a runner from England, said the weather made for a “brutal” run.”We were at about 18 miles and we heard they canceled it and that kind of sent a little bit of concern through the crowd,” he said. “It’s just it’s impossible to run.”

The 88-degree heat and sweltering humidity were so draining that organizers shut down the second half of the marathon course 3 1/2 hours after the start.

How the winner so it all

“One thing I had in my mind was that everybody is going to face the same heat,” Patrick Ivuti said. “I had no problem with that because everybody was going through the same thing as me.”

In addition to the scorching heat Patrick had to overcome the tough competition from Robert Cheruiyot the defending Chicago Marathon champion, Gharib of Morocco and Daniel Njenga the perennial 3rd place finisher, will he ever get it right and finally win?

More Elite at Chicago Marathon

Chicago Marathon have announced the latest entry of Robert K. Cheruiyot, the back to back winner of Boston marathon and also a winner at Chicago marathon in 2006. Whose lasting memory at 2006 memory was his famous fall at the finish.

This brings the number of elite runners for the Sundays Chicago marathon to 15 runners.

Will the record fall in a week?

Haile Gebresellassie predicted its only a matter of time before we see a marathon runner, run the full marathon in 2hrs flat. With 15 elite runners going for the jackpot I predict the sundays chicago marathon to be exciting. Its only a week since Haile Gebresellasie set a new world record but this 15 elite runners might just break it. With 15 best of the best fighting on the streets of chicago a record might just be broken, if not the world record the Chicago Course record might fall come on sunday.

Who to watch at Chicago

Out of the 15 elite runners at Chicago full marathon 10 have previously run a full marathon at sub 2.08hrs. Felix Limo the london marathon winner starts among favourites with a personal best time of 2.06hrs.

Robert Cheruiyot who is also the defending champion at Chicago is my favourite to win. Cheruiyot arrives to Chicago after back-to-back-to-back championships at the Boston Marathon (2006 and 2007) and 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. He has the extra motivation since he is currently poised atop the World Marathon Majors men’s leaderboard with 75 points, a lock for the inaugural championship. Regardless of his place finish in Chicago this weekend, Cheruiyot will become the first series champion following the ING New York City Marathon in November.

Mr. Consistent in Chicago, Daniel Njenga. The Japanese based Kenyan ran 2:06:16 for 2nd in 2002, 2:07:41 for 3rd in 2003, 2:07:44 for 2nd in 2004, and 2:07:14 for 3rd last year. The only thing he lacks in Chicago is the win. He does not have any recent races under his belt, but going off of past years performances it’s safe to assume he’s prepared. Could this be the year that Njenga finally gets it right?

And the ladies

Berhane Adere the defending champion will lead the women challenge and I dont see any other female runner likely to beat her. Adere’s 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon championship set a new Ethiopian national record. Although her career spans a decade, Adere spent the majority of that time on the track, making her marathon debut in Rotterdam in 2001. Since then, she has twice held the Ethiopian national record and earlier this year, she won the Fortis Rotterdam Half Marathon in 1:11:11 as part of her preparation for Chicago. Go girl!