Last year's Chicago Marathon (which we ranked first in our list of top local annual sports events) got plenty of headlines—and not the good kind. A story in yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times reminds readers that "last year's marathon organizers were slammed as grossly unprepared for the freakishly warm October weather, the hottest in the city's three decades of running a marathon."
The alleged unpreparedness—and more directly, 89-degree heat—caused one fatality among the runners, and 300 were taken to the hospital or medical tents. Ultimately, organizers canceled the event mid-race in an unprecedented move. So what's on tap for this year's marathon on Sunday?
Marianne Caponi, spokeswoman for the Chicago Marathon, said that event organizers have taken precautions to avoid a repeat of last year's mistakes. This year's race will feature 20 water stations—there were only 15 last year—and each station will be better stocked with fluids. Organizers also created a new alert system to keep runners abreast of "changing conditions," and an e-mail that went out on Tuesday warned of Sunday's expected temps in the high 70s.
"It's a little warmer than what would be ideal, but we're not looking at conditions like last year," said Caponni. "We're working with city agencies and the medical director to keep tabs on what's coming."
The race is expected to draw 45,000 participants.
