A Marathoners Assumption of Risk

On February 12, 2012 I ran the National Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville, Florida.  The weather was very different than a normal February day in Florida with temperatures never reaching higher than 40 degrees and a wind chill unheard of, at 20 degrees.  Friends suffered hypothermia and dehydration along the course reminded me of the legal and liability issues around marathons.  Runner safety should be the backbone of every running event, but we have all been a part of or heard of event that went terribly wrong.

With a registered field of 45,000, the 2007 Chicago Marathon was looking to be a great race.  The elite athletes proved this by having two of the closest finishes in the history of the marathon, but what was happening behind them would prove to be a future case study for race directors and lawyers. 

There is really no way to articulate what happened that day or who was at fault.  So many worlds collided in one event that questions have arisen on who is liable for the wrongs of an endurance event.  Runners World magazine describes in detail the “Melt Down” that occurred that day.  The weather topping 92 degrees in the sun, the lack of water at water stations due to faster runners using more than what was forecasted, the race director cancelling the race in what has been deemed to late for the conditions, runners not recognizing their own bodies telling them to stop, EMT’s in unfamiliar locations with limited directions and overwhelmed emergency rooms in the area, all of these created a snowball effect creating a disaster with 1 death and over 300 people treated at area hospitals. 

Every participant signs a waiver of liability, essentially waiving the right to assumption of risk. Just like purchasing a ticket to a baseball game does for foul balls.  The question is does this cover negligence on the part of the race organizers or the volunteers if you are at the back of the pack during a marathon?  Do you sign away your rights to have water available in extreme heat or that the ambulance driver will know the way to the emergency room?  The Sports Law Blog questions all of this and how much warning does a race organizer have to give?  The expo had announcements that it would be extremely hot and that participants needed to ensure that they took every precaution.  Is it then the participants’ responsibility to ensure that they have enough water and Gatorade to make it through the first part of the race?  In my opinion it is.  I feel that as a casual back of the pack runner, it is my responsibility when running a Marathon or Half-Marathon that I have trained well and am prepared for the race.  If it is hot, as it was in Chicago, then it is my responsibility in signing a waiver of liability and assuming a risk that I dress appropriately and ensure my own hydration needs are met.  As with the Florida marathon in the cold, it was also my responsibility to ensure that I was dressed appropriately and stayed hydrated.  While I don’t think that those running up front of a race should use all of the resources I think in extreme conditions it will always be a calculated risk that happens. 

I think that the best thing that the race officials did is stop the race.  Do I think that they could have done more, sure?  I think that they could have worked to start the race at an earlier time given the forecast.  Would this have made participants angry if they wouldn’t have started on time, yes but most waivers signed by runners give the organizer the ability to make changes?  Changing the start time in advance would have proved to be a smart idea.  Every participant has to retrieve his or her own bib number at the expo, communicating the change here would have been appropriate.

As a runner in Florida, I often experience the conditions like those at the Chicago Marathon.  There are races that I won’t do any more because I see how participants are treated and how race officials are prepared.  Race directors should look at what worked and what didn’t at the 2007 Chicago Marathon and should learn from them before any more people get hurt.  That said runners should take responsibility for yourselves just as you do on a training run and make sure you are prepared for anything.