running through baghdad?

well, i ran the chicago marathon yesterday as training for the lakefront 50k and i'm guessing that since i made it through that unscathed, i'm going to be okay on the 27th!

unless you're living in a cave (or, i suppose, some place with "real" news), you've probably heard by now that the chicago marathon was a total fiasco. the race was called off around noon, one runner died on the course, and several hundred more were hospitalized. as people try to sort out what happened, the race directors are saying there was plenty of hydration on the course, while the runners out there (like me) know that was not the case. i didn't touch a drop of gatorade until mile 10 or so.

this race was utterly bizarre - even though i had alot of fun! i was happy to be doing it as a training run and not racing. i finished right where i wanted to - just under 11.00 minute pace - which may have been a little fast in retrospect, given the conditions.

this was a surreal experience, though, and one i'll not soon forget. the second half of the course was what i imagine running through a war zone to feel like: people were dropping like flies around me, puking in the gutters and laying on the curbs; runners were getting carried off on gurneys all over the place; and a police chopper kept flying overhead blaring "stop running NOW. there is NO MORE medical personnel!" from its loudspeaker. bizarro.

adding to the surreal-ness, i suppose, was the fact that i felt reasonably good. i high-fived every little kid on the course, sang the iowa fight song with the hawkeyes along the way, and stopped to kiss mom, dad, hannah, and lisa when i first saw them.

yes, i experienced the war zone that was the 2007 chicago marathon, the race that will live forever in running lore, but i didn't entirely experience it. what was, for me, a hot, fun day out on the course, turned into a matter of life and death for the people around me, before my very eyes. eerie. and a day not soon forgotten.

needless to say, i feel for those who got hit so hard by the poor conditions, those who took hits to their health, their pride, and their dreams. i take no pleasure in their pain. i do, however, give thanks for whatever i've got that made yesterday just another run in the heat: a fun day on the roads, high-fiving, singing, hugging, kissing, and finishing.