The Chicago marathon was the most recent big city marathon to experience the darker side of the Mount Everest of runs. The Glory Road of 26.2 miles has it’s injuries of course, however there are real casualties.

Chicago experienced it 5th death on the course since it’s inception in 1977. The warm weather and humidity caused race officials to call off the race around noon as water stations ran empty, hundreds of runners vomiting or collapsing and the untimely passing of a Chad Schieber, 35. The natural question of course is “who is to blame?”

Do race organizers have the well being of the “runners” in mind when they host an event so large with no qualification requirements? Or is the temptation of each $90 to $100 entry fee of the tens of thousands just too hard to deny?

Do the runners really take in consideration the toll they will exert on their bodies as they run up to 4,5,6 7 or more hours? Did they consult their physician prior to training, learned the lessons of proper hydration and become aware of the warning signs of bigger problems than the blisters and chaffing?

After this most recent experience there should be a moment of pause in which people on both sides of the water stations should reevaluate their intentions and capabilities.

First Up: Race Organizers

“The bottom line is marathons today are big business,” said Patrick Moscaritolo, head of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The monetary interests, including how much money is raised by charity groups affiliated with the marathon, can make it hard for organizers to scale down a marathon or to consider calling it off. The City of Chicago made an estimated $20 million from this years race with the infusion of cash at hotels and restaurants.

Cash flow like that is not shocking once you see the previous entry numbers:

Will qualifications come into effect for these big city marathons as more runners are hurt or worse? Should race organizers conduct policing to ensure their customers meet some minimum requirement to participate? Should required proof of other completed races, like a half marathon with some minimum pace time be the standard before they accept someone to the big run? These are questions they are most likely asking themselves along with how much revenue would drop due to this type of changes. Everyone likes being the best and biggest at what they do. Why would marathon organizations be any different?

Second Up: The “Runners”

The question that should be on everyone’s mind, who the hell are all these people? The running boom has exploded there is no argument there. At some point in time America has decided to get into to shape and win the war of obesity, or they just bite into the marketing hype of the athletic shoe and apparel companies. Either way, I applaud them for taking on the challenge and losing a few pound and setting goals.

However, has the level of proper training, education and self preservation also exploded? From the reports coming in about this past Chicago marathon, you would think not. Respect should be given to the 10,000 runners who decided not to show up to the “run on the sun” the others subjected themselves to. Although the heat can’t bear the blame for everything that happened that day.

Chad Schieber, who collapsed while running, had a mitral valve prolapse and did not die from the heat, the medical examiner’s office said Monday. Our prayers go out to his family and friends.

Now some may think this was an Average Joe who took this running thing too far. Check this out: Alberto Salazar, winner of the 1994 Comrades Marathon, winner of the 1982 Boston Marathon, three New York Marathons, and former world record holder, suffered a heart attack aged 48 during a coaching session. Salazar is no Average Joe but if anything he is human just like the rest of us.

If you need some more words you can’t pronounce try Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Basically for those still not paying off the medical school loans, this is a disease where the heart muscle grows in size to the point where the blood supply is not sufficient to meet the demand, and the overgrowth of the muscle interferes with the ability of the heart to contract and relax.

In other words, a large muscle needs greater blood supply and this can’t be met. Now that sounds pretty bad, but not as bad as:

One in 500 people have Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. It’s more prevalent in the United States than is HIV and Parkinson’s. So if this little fact is news to you it is quite possible that there are many many people living their live with an undetected heart condition. How serious does some medical communities take this? Very!

Italy for example is the only country that mandates heart screening of all its professional athletes. Since 1981, Italian authorities have run heart checks on all competing athletes. The incidence of sudden, fatal heart attacks has dropped from four cases per 100,000 to 0.4 cases per 100,000.

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, deemed the risk of irregular heartbeats to be so great that before last year’s World Cup in Berlin, its medical committee demanded that all players undergo heart scans. FIFA said it was considering expanding health checks.

So I don’t live and run marathons in Italy or play international world soccer, so what do I do? Check the family records. Most cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are heriditary. However, some cases occur when there is no family history of disease.

If you’re out there on a run then I suggest paying attention to any warning signs:

Not the most upbeat of articles but neither was the Chicago Marathon.

Stay safe and good running.