The Bears beat the Packers, but Chicago had an otherwise rough weekend, with a Cubs loss and possibly the worst marathon experience in their history. Granted, it was 88 degrees and who the hell expects that in October? But the marathon was canceled four hours in, with exhausted bodies strewn throughout the course and at least one death--a 35-year-old police officer. Race officials say they are not to blame for the lack of water and gatorade. Right. It's someone else's fault that runners were so desperate they were taking water from strangers in the crowd and drinking out of fountains.
To be fair, though, you have to prepare and make sure you are fit enough before you embark on running a marathon. And you really have to listen to your body telling you when you're asking too much of it. Marathon runners spent so much time preparing for the big day that even when the race was shut down, many people simply couldn't walk away. If you think those people are idiots, you might enjoy this Chicago Tribune column.
Jack is TWO!
9 years ago
1 comment:
As someone whose body is designed more for show than performance, it is difficult for me to relate physically to marathon runners.
However, from a psychological perspective, I find it fascinating that they had to stop the race because they were afraid that people would run themselves sick/dead. As long as they saw a lemming in front of them, they would have kept pushing past their physical limitations despite the fact there was no punishment if they stopped other than the disappointment of not finishing.
Although, I suppose it is hard to know how much is enough, having never trained for a marathon I believe you only run the entire thing once or twice during training so you may not be aware of how tired you are supposed to feel at different points.
Plus, with crowds gathered around...how embarrassing to quit with everyone staring and yelling encouragments to 'not quit'. I may have been one of those lemmings now that I think of it.
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