Gay Games marathon gets last minute course change
Crossposted on Marathon Pundit.
Hmmm...I'm not sure what these people are thinking. July days in Chicago tend to be hot and humid, and the organizers of the Gay Games are only now figuring that out? Actually, the weather forecast for tomorrow is somewhat favorable for the marathoners.
This press release discusses the course change. The Gay Games Marathon will take place Saturday morning.
The Saturday 22 July 2006 Gay Games marathon route has changed to more adequately ensure the safety of the athletes. The Marathon will start and finish at the lakefront just north of 31st street beach, just south of McCormick Place. The course will take the runners south on lakefront trails to 49th street and then back north near the start locations. Marathon runners will run four loops of the lakefront course. Half-Marathon runners will run two loops. The course will no longer go north to Fullerton as planned.
Four loops? Bohr-ing!!!
More....
"Changing to a shorter looped course will help ensure the safety of the runners," said Nancy Harris, Logistics Director. "Last weekend's extreme heat led us to re-evaluate the longer course and conclude that for athlete safety we need to position water and relief stations much closer together than traditionally provided in a marathon. The new course ensures that marathon runners will always be much closer to trained volunteers and medics so that any health-related issues may be handled immediately." The decision was made in cooperation with City of Chicago officials.
The high tomorrow is forecast to be 79 degrees. By the time most of the runners finish, about 10am, the high of the day will not have been reached. Besides, it's always a little cooler near Lake Michigan in the summer. So I'm not sure why they changed the course.
Will the new course be accurate? USA Track & Field is the organization that certifies courses as complying to the distance promised, which is 26.2 miles for a marathon, 13.1 miles for the half-marathon.
To a person, runners ask of two things from a race organizer: Plenty of refreshment stops (it looks like the Gay Games is covered here) and an accurate course. I'm not so sure that the latter will fulfill expectations.
Chicago has an unhappy history with marathon course that are tinkered with at the last minute, as participants in the defunct Lakeshore Marathon discovered last year. Those runners had to contend with an extra mile added to an already long race.
10 comments:
Great, another post about the Gay Games that has nothing to do with local or state politics. Got a problem with gay and lesbian homosexuals that you’d like to tell us about John? As a commenter suggested on another thread, perhaps Rich should rename this blog “Homophobenoize.”
Feel the love.
They changed the course to make everything easier for the organizers. The more compact, the less they had to spread themselves out.
I hope you don't mind me self promoting my daily Gay Games Blog here John. Scroll down to the Triathlon story and comments for all the dirt on the organization.
Actually I don't mind. Your point makes sense, it was probably 70 degrees during the race. I have my doubts on the accuracy of the course, unless they had it measured in advance for a contingency plan.
Hey, I linked you your Moore comment on my version of Skinner's Wal-Mart story.
Why would anyone care, I am sure no one other than a gay person would waist a second on watching it let alone hearing anything about it.
The Gay Games have ruined everything.
Now, when a fella goes into the City wearing a snappy ball cap, a spaghetti strapped shirt, satin short-shorts and some colorful bracelets, for some reason folks think he is participating in those Games!
I ran the half marathon yesterday, and it was well organized -- went off without a hitch. Weather was perfect, course was fine (except for obnoxious bikers who don't know how to share the lakefront path, but that has nothing to do with the GG), and the particpants seemed very happy with the event. I think we all would have been happier without so many loops, but all the participants seemed to understand.
With regard to those bikers mentioned above:
I had a similar experience near the same location. While walking my GSD, I started to turn to my right and we were almost run over.
I used to take biking seriously, with a racing bike that I would take up the lakefront. One thing I learned quickly for my safety and those of the people around me: Yell "on your right" or "on your left" before passing.
I don't have a clue why bikers now cannot do that, particularily since I freely admit that with myself, my wife, and our dog we can be a danger a to bikers. If we know you are coming we can avoid you.
The same applies to runners, but we have not had the same problem [although we had one ugly run in with a slow witted jogger listening to his headphones and completely oblivious to us who actually ran over our dog -- the dog was hurt but recovered after about two weeks).
A dog on a tight leash can get in the way of a biker or runner, but it will not happen if you give us some room and more important, warn us of your approach.
We don't want to impede a run or a bike trip, and we also don't want to get hurt. If you are using Chicago's lakefront, warn us, and give us room.
Can someone actually answer why there is a need for a so called gay games? I understand the Special olympics and certainly support them. What is the purpose of gay games are they not as good as the regular contestants, are they not as good as the special olympics and if they aren't as good then what is the purpose? What can they acheive if they don't measure up to the real thing... What is the point?
From the GG website:
The Gay Games are open to anyone. There are no qualifying events, no minimum or maximum requirements, and no mandatory affiliations. The Games are built on the founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and promote a supportive environment, free from bigotry, where participants achieve success by their own measure. More than a tournament or cultural program, the Gay Games is a gathering of the international sports and arts community that changes lives, attitudes, and the very nature of competition.
Not that any answer will satisfy some folks.
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