Chicago Marathon

54-year-old Dwight Carmen comes through heart surgery with goal of running a marathon again. Carmen picked the Chicago Marathon as his goal and began training with a group of runners. Together, they ran the marathon, forming a tight bond among them.

General News St. Paul/Minneapolis Pioneer Planet

Nov 15, 2000

Veteran runner Dan Towns and Pilar Blitchok ran side by side for nearly two-thirds of the Chicago Marathon's 26.2-mile course, each motivating the other, when suddenly Towns said that he didn't feel well, Blitchok said Monday. "I asked him if he wanted some water or if he wanted to stop," said Blitchok, 35, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who on Sunday was running her third marathon. "He said, `No.' I looked over at him and he didn't look good, but by that point we all looked kind of burned." They ran the next two miles in silence, at a slowed pace on the crowded route, and sometime after passing the 20-mile mark, Towns, 45, a geologist from Edmond, Okla., collapsed, unconscious, Blitchok said. Although fellow runners who were trained health professionals and paramedics worked hard to resuscitate him, Towns died a few hours later in Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.

General News Chicago Tribune

Oct 25, 2000

An autopsy showed that the runner who collapsed and died in the 2000 Chicago Marathon was a casualty of atherosclerosis, the most common cause of death in his age group.

General News Chicago Sun-Times

Oct 30, 2000

Danny Towns, 45, collapsed at the 22.5 mile mark in the Chicago Marathon, after running for slightly more than 4 hours. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

General News Chicago Tribune

Oct 23, 2000