CHICAGO | In the first hours after the 2007 Chicago Marathon was abruptly halted due to excessive heat, race organizers vowed that they would be better prepared if they ever faced high temperatures again.
Slideshow: View photos from the Chicago Marathon.
Related story: Local runners overcome warm conditions at Chicago Marathon
Related story: Chicago Marathon local finishers
Sunday's 31st running of the Chicago Marathon provided that opportunity with temperatures constantly rising throughout the day and peaking at 85 degrees.
Initial reaction from race director and Hammond native Carey Pinkowski is that his staff passed the test.
"We have learned each year from the event and continually tried to improve," Pinkowski said. "From all the indicators that we have in place, everything went exceptionally well given the conditions today."
Race officials decided to increase the number of aid stations from 15 to 20 in light of last year's race, which left many of the participants to turn their months of training into a "fun run." Also in place was a new color alert system, which informed race participants about precautions they should take with the weather.
The race started in yellow, which represented less-than-ideal conditions and by 11 a.m., the level moved to red, which meant that the runners needed to slow down or consider stopping.
"It's not the marathon's fault that it was hot, and they made a huge improvement in how they handled the heat over last year," Valparaiso resident Mike Pontrelli said. "They either need to start the race earlier in the day or push it back two more weeks."
The race itself lacked the sizzle of recent years as Evans Cheruiyot crossed the finish line in 2:06:25, just 43 seconds shy of setting a new course record. The Kenyan-born runner was racing in just his second marathon after capturing the Milano City Marathon in Italy last December.
On the women's side, Russia's Lidiya Grigoryeva (2:27:17) captured her first Chicago Marathon title to go along with her dramatic 2007 Boston Marathon victory and 2006 Los Angeles triumph.
The race had 45,000 runners sign up, but as it has been in past years, more than 10,000 failed to participate and a reported 33,033 took to the streets of Chicago.
"I was feeling pretty strong until the 18th mile, and then everything started to get to me," Porter's Kristi Fagg said. "That's when the crowd took over. They are just amazing, the way that they support the runners, it really helps you finish strong."
