North Carolina firefighter dies in Chicago Marathon
A 35-year-old North Carolina man died after collapsing about 500 yards from the finish line of the Chicago Marathon this morning, according to race officials.
William Caviness, was a captain for the Greensboro, N.C., fire department, and was running to raise money for a burn victim’s foundation.
The father of two young children went down near the intersection of Indiana Avenue and Roosevelt Road at about 10:30 a.m., race officials said.
Race medical director Dr. George Chiampas said medical personnel were able to get Caviness’s heart beating again, but he died 1 hour and 45 minutes after collapsing.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the Caviness family,” said Greensboro Deputy Fire Chief Clarence Hunter. “This is a tremendous loss of Captain Will Caviness.”
Caviness had raised $2,475 for the International Association of Firefighters Burn Foundation, more than the $2,000 goal he had set, according to a website tracking the donations.
There was a medical tent within 50 yards of where Caviness collapsed, and four to five emergency doctors attended to him immediately, said Robin Monsky, director of media relations for the marathon.
He was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, where he later died, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The weather at the start of the race was 64 degrees, but reached the high 70s by Sunday afternoon. There were no temperatures spikes, and race officials said cool lakes breezes later in the afternoon allowed them to keep the alert level at yellow, meaning less than ideal conditions.
In 2008 and 2010, unusually warm temperatures forced race officials to raise the alert level to red.
Medical personnel transported 54 runners to the hospital during the race, a sharp decline from the 100 in 2010, Monsky said.
Caviness’s death was the second in the past five years of the race. Chad Schieber, a 35-year-old Michigan police officer, died in 2007 because of a heart condition. Officials eventually shut down the race because of the heat that year.
The medical examiner’s office says an autopsy is planned for Monday.
Ÿ Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.