Runner died from heart problems not heat at marathon
A heart condition, not record-setting heat, killed a Michigan police officer who died running an unusually hot and humid Chicago Marathon, an autopsy showed Monday.
Chad Schieber, 35, collapsed well into Sunday's race -- as did several other people, at least two of whom remained in critical condition Monday -- leading to speculation his death was related to the blistering temperatures that ultimately forced organizers to announce they were halting the race.
But the medical examiner's office said Schieber suffered from a condition known as mitral valve prolapse and did not die from the heat, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. The condition is a "common heart disorder" in which the valve between the "heart's left upper chamber and lower left chamber does not close properly," according to MayoClinic.com.
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bull; ">One dead, many fall ill during annual race
It is in most cases harmless, the sometimes requires treatment, the Web site says.Schieber, a Midland, Mich., police officer, was pronounced dead shortly before 1 p.m. at a Veteran's Affairs hospital, according to the 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.Within two hours of the 8 a.m. start time, temperatures already had 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."People's bodies weren't necessarily responding like they hoped," Platt said Monday. "Runners are a very unique breed and they're very determined and they want to push themselves because of the all the time they put in preparing for the race."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.