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CHICAGO One runner in the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon is confirmed dead and 250 were taken away in ambulances, as record high temperatures forced organizers to bring the race to an early end.Shortly before noon, runners who had not finished yet were stopped about halfway through the course, at Cermak Road and Halsted Street, and were sent back to the starting area. Those who had passed the halfway point by noon were allowed to continue along the standard course.The decision was made after the winners were declared. The Fire Department transported 250 people from the scene, Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco Jr. said. Even more runners sought shelter in cooling or misting shelters, he said.One runner died, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed.Chad Schieber, 35, of Midland, Mich., collapsed at 1500 S. Ashland Ave., on the latter part of the course. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Jesse Brown West Side VA Hospital at 12:40 p.m., the medical examiner's office said.Ambulances from Chicago and from numerous suburbs were sent to a staging area near the end of the Marathon route, as repeated calls came in. The temperature around 2:30 p.m. was 85 degress with a heat index of 88, only one degree short of tying a record.One runner said she was not pulled off the course until Mile 23, near 35th Street and Michigan Avenue only a few miles from the finish line.Cynthia Pekron of Elmhurst, who was running for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society Team in Training, said a police officer had been telling people that the race was canceled and to stop running in the middle of the course, but he was "one in 100 people" and many runners did not believe he was serious.Three miles later, Pekron said, she did not hear the race pad beep to record her time, but she continued running.Finally, at mile 23, police began to enforce the cancellation of the rest of the race, Pekron said."I was at mile 23, right between 23 and 24, and they were making people stop. Police were actually enforcing it. They told us, the race was canceled, 'You have to stop. You are permitted to finish the race, but you have to walk the rest of it," Pekron said.Police cars were sent down the street for the remainder of the course to ensure that everyone walked.Pekron said it was police, not Marathon organizers, who told her the race was canceled."Marathon organizers were confused as to why people weren't running, and were almost encouraging people to run," she said.Pekron said she wished she could have finished the race."I understand the concerns about people being injured and such, but I wasn't, like, stumbling and confused, and I feel like if you made it to 23, you're probably OK."Runners and fans reported shortages of water and Gatorade along the route.One Marathon runner wrote to CBS 2 that "Every water stop was out everything." He said in an e-mail that runners had to get water from condo buildings and stores that brought out their hoses.Pekron also said there were problems with water shortages...To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
