Chicago Marathon
9th October 2011

Although I was slower than I hoped and failed to achieve my target of finishing within an hour of the overall winner my 3:08:31 in the 2011 Chicago Marathon  was fastest in my age category and should be good enough to make a serious claim for a Club Best MV65 time.

Conditions for the start (45000 all use the same line!) were good but the temperature had risen to 27C for the third hour. While I was enjoying the restorative effects of the snow-making machines and post-race beer provided by the organisers many were still suffering out on the course, including a lady who gave birth to a healthy full-term baby shortly after completing the course in 6:25. As an expectant grand-father I found that truly remarkable. Tragically however, an experienced marathoner died within sight of the finish inspite of immediate medical attention. In typical trans-Atlantic style the local TV station quoted odds of 120000 to 1 for such deaths.

Techno-geeks may be interested in the non-returnable (UPM Raflatac DogBone) chips that were used for race timing. I had not seen this type previously possibly because they seem to marketed for "supply chain management" rather than timing sporting events. The chips themselves were very light films fitted as a loop to the shoe laces and the 'mats' were much narrower than usual (only about 12 inches wide). Perhaps this is the future?

Bob

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