Blizzard of lies bury marathon in knee-deep controversy

JANUARY 1979:

The side streets have been plowed.

That was what Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic went on TV to tell snow-stranded Chicagoans after the Great Blizzard.

"Everything is under control," said the monotone mayor.

OCTOBER 2007:

We had enough water.

That was what Chicago Marathon Director Carey Pinkowski went on TV to tell parched runners after the Great Heat Wave.

"There was adequate fluids at all of our locations," said the marathon man as he swilled a bottle of water for punctuation.

With those fateful words, separated by more than 28 years, the names Pinkowski and Bilandic will forever be wed in the Official Public Register of Chicago Ridicule.

The late Mayor Bilandic was an avid runner himself and actually handed out medals at the very first Chicago Marathon in 1977.

If Bilandic hadn't died five years ago, I am certain that he could have offered some advice to the current marathon director.

"Don't do what I did back then," Bilandic would have told Pinkowski. "Back in '79 after that 24-inch snowfall, I told people that the streets were clear. All they had to do was look out their front windows to know that wasn't true."

Without any historical advice, Pinkowski pulled a Bilandic after canceling last Sunday's marathon in mid-race, claiming the heat was too oppressive. He said that there had been enough water to last the entire race.

But just as Bilandic learned in 1979 when news film showed the snow still piled deep on the streets the mayor claimed had been cleared, thirsty marathon runners have spent the past week complaining that there wasn't enough water.

Kayla Wheeler of Glen Ellyn sent a letter to marathon officials.

"I paralleled the course for the sake of my running daughters and we HAD to supply them with water because there was NO water left," she wrote.

"My daughters were at the 20-mile mark when they were confronted by police officers insisting they had to stop running. They were informed by the police that there were no ambulances left nor water remaining, and the race officials would not be responsible for any injuries."

As a further insult, Wheeler says her daughters made it to the finish line but were denied medals -- although some runners who never crossed the finish line apparently were given medals.

In a public letter issued Friday, Pinkowski said nothing of that or of the water debacle. He offered no apologies but said he shared runners' "disappointment."

Marathon officials now say there will be no refunds of the $110 fee, and several runners say they are considering a class action lawsuit for breach of contract.

Pinkowski put the blame at the feet of runners, just as Bilandic castigated Chicagoans for not moving their cars off of side streets in 1979.

"Our participants were not drinking the water, they were cooling themselves with it," he alleged. "That's something that, I'll be honest with you, we didn't anticipate."

I have been street-side for many of the marathons that my wife has run the past 10 years, including Chicago, New York, Orlando and Paris. Runners can always be seen dousing themselves with water, even in 45-degree weather.

How is it that an honest Mr. Pinkowski "didn't anticipate" such common behavior, considering that he is a Hall of Fame runner from Indiana, ran his own personal best marathon time of 2:20:48 in the 1983 Chicago Marathon, and has been race director since 1990?

There is one difference between Pinkowski and Bilandic. The marathon director can't be voted out of office. He has a contract through 2012.

Chuck Goudie is the chief investigative reporter at ABC7 News in Chicago. The views in this column are his own and not those of WLS-TV. He can be reached by e-mail at chuckgoudie@gmail.com.