Man Who Died Running Chicago Marathon was Raising Money for Burn Victims

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 10, 2011 1:42PM

The man who died running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon yesterday has been identified as William Caviness of Greensboro, NC. Caviness, a firefighter, was running to raise money for the International Association of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation. Caviness chose the foundation particularly because of what they provided for children injured in fires and had raised nearly $2,900.

Caviness collapsed at Roosevelt and Indiana, 500 yards from the finish line. Dr. George T. Chiampas, medical director for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, said medical respondents recovered Caviness' pulse but that he passed away at 12:03 p.m.

Caviness' death was the first in four years during the Chicago Marathon and the sixth since 1998. An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the cause of Caviness' death. Even though yesterday's temperatures were nowhere near the record highs that forced the early shutdown of the Marathon in 2007, they did force some runners to slow things down and keep from setting personal records for the sake of personal safety.