Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2007 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
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CHICAGO — While we’re patting the backs of Chicagoans who helped cool off parched runners in Sunday’s marathon, we can’t overlook the stellar efforts of the uniformed men and women who helped the race from becoming a disaster.
As runners wilted in the heat, unable to get or find drinking fluids, police officers — who had one of their own collapse and die — were spotted carrying slumped runners. One officer allowed a light-headed participant to sit in his air-conditioned cruiser until he felt well enough to meet his family a half a mile away. Paramedics on bicycles sped from runner to failing runner injecting them with IV fluids. Suburban firefighters from at least 30 jurisdictions manned some of the 100 ambulances on the scene when they could have been kicking their feet back on a quiet Sunday instead.
Stories about crooked cops and shady fire officials may be splashier than these small stories. They may command bigger headlines. But the negative stories are overwhelmed, day after day, by positive accounts of public servants “just doing their jobs,” as they will be the first to say. They do those jobs exceptionally well, as any number of marathon participants will happily attest.