Unseasonably warm weather sent six high school athletes in Sugar Grove to the hospital Saturday, and officials warn that the heat and humidity Sunday could be even more brutal for the record 45,000 runners expected for the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
“This is weather more typical of summer,” said Andrew Krein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville. “When they’re out there running, they should really treat it like a day in the middle of August or July.”
Krein said that the temperature is expected to reach a record 88 degrees downtown Sunday and that temperatures in the 90s “are not out of the question.” That would mark the hottest Chicago marathon since 1979, when temperatures hit 84 degrees.
It was several degrees cooler Saturday, but dozens of high school cross country runners had to be treated after feeling dizzy and sick. Six were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and the rest were treated at the scene, said Marty Kunkel, chief of the Sugar Grove Fire Protection District.
“Once it heated up during the day, we had a lot of people complaining of shortness of breath, heat exhaustion, that type of thing,” Kunkle said of the Blackhawk Stampede, an annual event held by West Aurora High School. “As races kept going on, we had more and more patients that succumbed to the heat.”
Event organizers canceled the last run, the boy’s varsity race, shortly after noon.
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Marathon organizers said they are heeding the warnings. Aid stations will be stocked with more fluids and ice, fire hydrants equipped with mist adapters will be opened along the route and the number of cooling stations and buses will be increased. More than 700 medical personnel will be on hand, water-soaked sponges will be available at mile 20 and an air conditioned medical tent and intensive care unit will be placed at the finish line.
Because of the conditions, it is unlikely records will be set.
Since the heat picks on everyone, from five-hour joggers to world-class professionals, officials discouraged runners from pushing themselves into physical distress in hopes of recording a personal best time.
Runners should stay hydrated but not overdo it. Too much water also can be dangerous. Runners who experience chest pain, dizziness, cramping, vomiting or headaches should slow down or stop and consult medical personnel along the course.
Marathon medical director Dr. George Chiampas had this advice: “We want them to listen to their bodies.”
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