The runner stopped, staggered, and fell to the ground, clutching her chest in pain. Within minutes, two volunteers, both wearing red jackets, one with a CB radio, arrived to help.
After a quick survey of the runner’s symptoms—chest pain, heavy breathing, vomiting—the volunteers ordered a wheelchair and announced they’d be taking her to the Jackson Park Medical Tent.
The scene looked like it was straight out of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which was exactly the point. In fact, the “runners” and medical volunteers were part of a mock marathon held on North Park’s campus in early October, just days before the actual event took place in Chicago’s Grant Park. This was the fifth year that 100-plus North Parkers, most of them athletic training students, participated as medical volunteers in the marathon.
“This allows students to feel more confident going into the actual event,” says Alyssa Anderson C’12, an assistant professor of athletic training and co-coordinator of the practice event.
The mock marathon is the only one of its kind held in the run-up to the marathon, and North Park students, faculty and staff, and alumni make up the largest single group of volunteers at the annual 26.2-mile endurance test. It’s yet another distinctive for North Park’s athletic training department, which is the only accredited program within Chicago.