Truman runners sweat through race
Bonnie Birdsell
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: News
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The 30th Annual LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon was Sunday, Oct. 7. Thirty-six thousand runners from all 50 states and 120 countries met in Grand Park to take on the 26.2-mile course. Nearly 300 participants were treated for heat-related ailments. One man, 35-year-old Chad Schieber of Michigan who suffered from heart conditions, died during the race. However, seniors Charlie Tonon and Lauren Miller and junior Lisa Langenfeld all crossed the finish line. Tonon recorded a time of 3:59:40, Langenfeld crossed the line next at 4:42:38, and Miller ran the race in 4:51:30.
The race began at 8 a.m. with temperatures already in the low 70s. By the time the first runners finished, temperatures had reached the 80-degree mark, causing organizers to stop the race after just three and a half hours and tell those still running to walk to the finish line, according to the Associated Press. According to a Chicago Marathon press release, it was the hottest weather ever for the race.
Sunday's race was Tonon's third marathon.
"After [my first marathon], I was obsessed," she said.
Tonon said she ran the St. Louis Marathon once and that this was her second time running the Chicago Marathon. She said a friend asked if she would be interested in training for a race her freshman year, which is when she "caught the marathon bug."
"I don't even know how to describe it," she said. "That feeling at the finish, there's just nothing like it. It's just that realization that you just finished something that most people would never even think about doing."
Tonon said her training regimen was based on a plan she found on the Internet. She said she ran six days a week with one day devoted to a long run, which started as an eight-mile stretch and finished as a 20-miler. Tonon said she tries to stick to a strict hydration method while running - eight ounces of water every 15 minutes, under normal conditions.
"But Sunday [at the Marathon], I would say more like 16 ounces every mile, which would be every eight to 10 minutes, easily," she said.
Jolly Ranchers also are a staple of Tonon's marathons. She said all along the Chicago course people were handing out the hard candies as well as lollipops to the runners. Sucking on candy provides quick sugar for tired muscles, she said, and it also helps to take her mind off the task at hand.
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