Autopsy planned for Michigan man who died running Chicago Marathon

An autopsy was scheduled this morning for a Michigan police officer who died running an unusually hot and humid Chicago Marathon.

Debilitating weather plagued this year's 30th annual run, forcing organizers to shut down the race in which the officer died and dozens of other runners were hospitalized, including two who remained in critical condition early Monday.

Chad Schieber, 35, a Midland, Mich., police officer, collapsed while running on the city's South Side on Sunday. He was pronounced dead shortly before 1 p.m. at a Veteran's Affairs hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

"It sounds like he lost his pulse very fast and died on the race course," George Chiampas, the race's medical director, said at a news conference after the race. Chiampas said witnesses reported seeing Schieber collapse and become unresponsive.

Shawn Platt, senior vice president of LaSalle Bank, the marathon's sponsor, said it was, "Obviously very sad news, and our thoughts and prayers are with the individual's family."

Race director Carey Pinkowski said organizers closed the race on concerns that emergency medical personnel wouldn't be able to keep up with heat-related injuries as the weather turned more cruel.

"We were seeing a high rate of people that were struggling," Pinkowski said. "If you were out there at 1 o'clock, it was a hot sun. It was like a summer day, it was just a brutally hot day."

At least 49 people were taken to hospitals, while another 250 were treated onsite, many for heat-related ailments. About 10,000 of the 45,000 registered runners never even showed up for the race, while another 10,934 started but didn't finish, officials said.

By 10 a.m., temperatures had already reached a race-record of 88 degrees. The previous marathon record of 84 degrees was set in 1979. The high heat index prompted organizers to stop the race at 11:30 a.m., about 3 1/2 hours into the run. Runners who hadn't reached the halfway point were diverted to the start and finish area, while those on the second half of the course were advised to drop out, walk or board cooling buses, Platt said.

He and other organizers acknowledged that not all runners heeded the warnings, and many continued. Helicopters hovered over the race course while police officers shouted through a bullhorn and warned runners to slow down and walk.

Lori Kaufman, a runner from St. Louis, said she was told to start walking at mile 14. She said the fire department turned on hydrants to hose people down along the course. She also said she didn't have enough water and Gatorade.

"We had a lot of spectators just handing us bottles of water, which helped a lot," Kaufman said. "Every medic station that we passed was full of people. I mean they were not doing well."

Pinkowski said he was confident there were enough fluids at the race's 15 aid stations, but he said race officials would "go back and take a real hard look at it."

The decision to end the race early was one of many unusual moments Sunday that began when Kenyan Patrick Ivuti won the muggy marathon in the closest finish in race history, edging Jaouad Gharib.

In the women's race, Ethiopian Berhane Adere rallied with a come-from-behind final sprint to defend her title.