"Joy in his blood bursting his heart, he died — the bliss!"
By More than 300 people were picked up by ambulances along the course, many of them suffering from nausea, heart palpitations and dizziness from the stifling heat, fire officials said. Forty-nine were hospitalized for their illnesses, race officials said, and the rest were treated at race-sponsored aid stations and a medical tent.
“I had no faculties whatsoever,” said Dawn Dowell, who was among the injured, having blacked out at Mile 19. Ms. Dowell, 37, of suburban Wheaton, said she could not provide her address or phone numbers in the minutes after she awoke with an emergency medical technician attaching an IV bag to her arm. Ms. Dowell, who spent two hours in a hospital, said she was running her first marathon.
In the 18th mile, a 35-year-old man collapsed. He was later pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as Chad Schieber, 35, of Midland, Mich.
As runners began falling ill on the course, city authorities sought help from suburban fire departments in case they ran out of ambulances. Fire hydrants were opened, creating an enormous spray along a downtown street. Fifteen city buses, air-conditioned to the coolest levels, were sent out as aid stations.
Could someone please explain to me the urge — evidently common these days within the ranks of ordinary schlubbos — to run a full marathon? I understand that what happened in Chicago yesterday was a complete anomaly, but the rationale for this fundamentally escapes me. Of all the Olympic events that could possibly have cracked into the mainstream of American culture, why this one? Why not, say, the javelin instead?
Oh. OK. Never mind.