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Oct-5-2007
Steamy Chicago Marathon On Tap For Sunday
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
The leaves may be falling from the trees of this bustling Midwestern city, but the temperature decidedly is not. Usually blessed with crisp autumn days, Chicago is in the middle of an untimely heat wave in advance of Sunday's 30th edition of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
Britain's Liz Yelling will be competing here for the first time. Usually joined by her triathlete husband, Martin, she is by herself here because he is preparing to compete in the Ford Ironman World Championships in Hawaii a week from tomorrow.
"It's hotter here," said Yelling.
The average high temperature for the last ten marathons here was 14.7°C (58.5°F), but forecasters are predicting a high temperature for Sunday of 31°C (88°F) accompanied by 65% humidity. At the 8:00 a.m. start, the temperature should be around 21°C (70°F). It will be the hottest Chicago Marathon on record; the previous high temperature for the race, according to records kept by the organizers, was 29°C (84°F) in 1979. The record high for Oct. 7 here is 86°F (30°C).
Executive race director Carey Pinkowski and his team have taken steps to protect the massive field --last year's race had 32,995 finishers-- from the heat. They have posted a heat advisory on their website, beefed up their medical team, instituted a plan to move unused water from earlier drinking stations to later ones, and will have cooling sprays installed in various locations.
"We had a meeting Wednesday night with my medical director," said Pinkowski in an interview. "We have available 700 medical personnel."
At today's press conference, the professional athletes showed grudging acceptance of the weather conditions which had redefined their goals.
"We're not really thinking about time at all," said Australia's Benita Johnson who set an Australian record of 2:22:36 at last year's race when the temperature was a chilly 3°C (37°F). "I'll just be in the race, racing the race."
Defending champion, Berhane Adere, ran an Ethiopian record of 2:20:42 here last year. She had little to say to the press today, but did her best to lower expectations about finish times. "Now I don't decide what I will run," she said when asked about the hot weather. "We'll see."
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, the Kenyan who famously slipped backwards at the finish line as he won last year's Chicago contest, told Race Results Weekly yesterday that the warm temperatures weren't a problem for him. But in the open forum of the press conference, he chose not to discuss the weather.
Gazing out into the audience with his familiar Cheshire cat smile, he joked:
"I'm very happy to be back in Chicago. I like Chicago because the city's very clean, the people very nice." He paused and continued, "The race also is flat."
Cheruiyot can afford the levity. With 75 points he has an insurmountable lead in the 2006/2007 World Marathon Majors points chase and will be awarded $500,000 after the series concludes with the ING New York City Marathon next month. That payday won't be affected by his performance here.
His key rivals, however, maintained a more serious bearing. Felix Limo, who won here in 2005, pointed out that the top runners were Kenyans who are used to the heat. "I don't have to worry so much," he said, implicitly brushing off the challenge of two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. "All of my competitors are Kenyans. If I'm going to be affected by the heat they will also be affected. We'll all suffer together."
With the prize money only going five-deep ($125,000-65,000-40,000-25,000-15,000), Limo reminded the media that running a fast time here was important for making a big payday. The truly large time bonuses of $40,000-and-up only kick in at sub-2:07 for the men and
sub-2:22:15 for the women.
"Time also is a factor in this marathon," he said, analyzing the situation.
"To pocket something big you have to run a very fast time."
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