Marathon Fallout...

Mike Downey of the Tribune is entitled to his opinion, but he makes himself out to be a tool. It takes alot for a Monday morning quarterback to get on his soapbox and chastise runners for being foolish to run. Stong work, Mike. You've got a whole new group of fans.

Another writer in the sports section said they should narrow the field for future marathons. That idea has some merit. He goes on to say that runners should have to qualify. I can't say I agree with that. Without knowing the breadth of the marathons available for runners, I have to ask how it is people new to the sport get a chance to break in. Does it mean we need to go to Milwaukee next year? There's nothing wrong with Milwaukee, it's a great city, but...

Let's talk about what went wrong.

Was there enough water/Gatorade? No. It's just that simple. Let me quote Carey Pinkowski, race director for the marathon: "Our participants were not drinking the water, they were pourng over their heads. That's something, I'll be honest with you, we didn't anticipate."(Chicago Tribune, October 9, 2007; Section 1, p.12) Excuse me, Mr. Pinkowski, but have you ever watched ANY part of a marathon or taken part in one? That's a question, not an accusation, by the way. To say that they couldn't forsee runners pouring water over their heads is ludicrous. That's poor planning. A mantra for ALL project managers out there:

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

And that goes for the runners as well. I can only speak for what I experienced. I saw plenty of runners out there that brought nothing with them. That means they probably used as much water to drink as they did to pour over their heads. If there was a little planning on their parts, plain and simple.

The blame has to go to both sides. But let's talk about the real world. The culpability will rest with the event organizers. And I am waiting to see the litigators come out of the woodwork. I think I might pass on any class action suits that come out of this, if any do.

For more incendiary stuff, take a look at the letters to the editor(Voice of the People) of the Chicago Tribune. This one is really good.