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Written by Felix Wong - View Profile
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Monday, 08 October 2007 |
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Last weekend there were at least two preeminent long-distance running races going on in the United States -- the Chicago Marathon and St. George Marathon.
Having run in the former last year already, I did the marathon in St. George, Utah, a short distance away from Zion National Park. Approximately 6,000 runners participated in ideal running conditions (50-60 degrees with no wind) on a beautiful, downhill course flanked by red sandstone cliffs. With 2,500' of elevation drop, I easily ran a personal best and -- finally! -- qualified for the Boston Marathon. (I needed to run a 3:10:xx; my time was 3:03:24.) Afterwards, not only did I celebrate by having an ice cream bar, but I got a wonderful, free massage by a cute young woman to help my sore legs loosen up.
In contrast -- 12 hours later and 1,630 miles away -- I think the participants of the Chicago Marathon had things a little tougher.
Apparently, the weather was so hot in Chicago that hundreds of runners had to be treated for heat exhaustion, fire hydrants were turned on to douse overheating participants with water, and the race was called off by noon. 10,000 runners didn't finish -- which, incidentally was how many registered runners who did not even start the race (ok, so they were smart) -- and most of the others who did finish were much slower the usual. Tragically, one person even died! (The death turned out to be from a preexisting heart condition, however, and not the heat.)
Actually, aside from the death, the race seemed very exciting. On top of the extreme heat, the men's race came down to a photo finish, and the female winner came from behind in the last 800 meters to pass the very surprised second-place finisher. The woman who won passed the runner-up so far on the right-hand side of the road that she didn't even get to run through the finishing banner, but still won anyways.
Despite the excitement of the Chicago race, I think I picked the right race to do. Even if I did not get to run through water spray from fire hydrants. | Only registered users can write comments.
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A Breath of Fresh Air (60)
writen by: felix
Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. |
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
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| | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
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