Chicago Marathon 2011: 34th Annual Chicago Marathon Marred by Man's Death

The 34th annual Chicago Marathon brought exultation and grief all wrapped into one.

On Sunday, Moses Mosop made history when he ran the fastest time in the Chicago Marathon's history, finishing in just 2 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds.

But the historic moment was also marred by the death of a 35-year-old North Carolina firefighter. According to authorities, via ESPN, William Caviness collapsed and died just 500 yards away from the finish line on Sunday.

The weather was 64 degrees at the start of the race and reached 70 degrees during the afternoon, continuing a string of unusually warm weather in Chicago in the last few years.

Caviness was running to raise money for burn victims and had already contributed $2,895 for the International Association of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation, per The Naperville Sun. His original goal was $2,000.

A father of two, Caviness was responded to immediately by "five to six" emergency physicians, according to Dr. George T. Chiampas, medical director for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. He was said to have collapsed at Roosevelt Road and Indiana Avenue.

Chiampas said, via the Sun, that the rate of deaths in marathons is 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 120,000. This was the second time someone had died running the Chicago Marathon in the last four years. In 2007, a Michigan man with a heard condition died, via ESPN.

Said Dave Coker, president of the Greensboro firefighters local union, "Will was a committed husband, a loving father...He had a great sense of humor...He was one of the guys.”

Sunday marked the sixth time in the last 14 years someone had died running the Chicago Marathon.