Sheesh

You'd think that the one thing they could get right is the distance. However, Lake Shore Marathoners were forced to go the extra mile.

"It's hard for me to fathom how someone can get the most basic element of a race wrong," said Mainard(a participant).

I ran the 2003 marathon and can atest that the extra mile is no joke! The strange thing is that the last minute changes to the course were in response to saftey concerns. Huh?

Paramedic Hector Contreras ... said he was so unnerved by the death of a 28-year-old runner in the Soldier Field 10 Mile race the day before that he reassessed the medical situation. He ordered more defibrillators, more water stations and more medical tents. "We started adding things and got all screwed up," Contreras said.

Adding to the chaos was the half-marathon, which also turned out to be too long and poorly marked. Some participants were so befuddled, they were running in circles.

Bridget Sullivan was the lead woman for the first part of the half-marathon when she was directed off the course ... to the Lincoln Park Zoo.