TOUGH MUDDERS CAN GET BLOODY AND EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA

The 12-mile obstacle courses are usually located on farmlands where competitors are likely to come in contact with fecally contaminated water or mud

With the increasing popularity of Tough Mudder obstacle courses, more and more competitors are being exposed to water and mud contaminated by the poop of farm animals.

TOUGH MUDDER RACERS WHO COMPETE IN A 12-MILE MILITARY STYLE OBSTACLE COURSE MAY BE AT RISK FOR EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA, WARNS THE CDC
Participants are sometimes exposed to the bacteria campylobacter coli which causes explosive and bloody diarrhea

By Alexandra Klausner

Mail Online
May 3, 2014

A Tough Mudder race that involves a military style obstacle course in muddy waters may send participants right to the bathroom line as the CDC warned yesterday that competitors are at risk for developing bloody and explosive diarrhea.

After a Tough Mudder race in 2012 in Nevada, public health officials at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas got a call from their medical center's emergency department who said that three members of the active-duty military were vomiting and experienced bloody diarrhea.

All three of them said that they had fallen face first in mud during a Tough Mudder obstacle at a cattle ranch in the town of Beatty, reports The Atlantic.

Slate reports that at least 22 similar cases of explosive diarrhea were linked to that same race in 2012.

The sudden diarrhea outbreak pushed the CDC to investigate and they found that the mud races are held on farmland that 'might be exposed to fecally contaminated water or slurry that potentially serious diarrheal disease can result if ingested, even inadvertently.'

The CDC says that racers are exposed to the fecally transmitted bacteria campylobacter coli that is hazardous to health and can begin affecting the body 2-5 days after exposure.

'These events typically are held in rural areas and often include man-made slurry fields (a mixture of soil or clay and water) as race 'challenges,' the CDC says.

'In areas commonly frequented by animals, topsoil used in the creation of slurry fields can be contaminated with feces from domestic fowl or ruminants or wild animals. Competitors who run or ride through such areas might unintentionally swallow sufficient numbers of organisms to cause clinical disease.'

Lieutenant Colonel Chad Claar, the public health flight commander at Nellis Air Force Base who led the research told the Washington Post that he believes more than 22 people got sick after the race in Nevada but only a handful of the participants reported it.

Those who join in the race like to pride themselves on physical toughness and compete in a series of obstacles beyond trudging through the mud.

Racers must face shocks from electrical wire fences and the cold from freezing ice baths called 'Arctic Enemas.'

When some racers reach the finish line, their obstacles are just beginning as they may have trouble 'letting go' of the race entirely.

'Participants also need to be encouraged to seek appropriate medical care for post-competition diarrhea,' the CDC advises, 'especially bloody diarrhea, and to inform medical personnel of their exposure.'

Other than explosive and bloody diarrhea, very few injuries have been reported.