HOUSTON – Mud runs and tough mudders are attractive to athletes who want to challenge themselves to military-style courses, but some participants leave with long-term damage to their bodies.
Organizers have said they encourage people to skip an obstacle if they feel uncomfortable. But what can happen when the pride to compete outweighs discomfort?
"I had never done one. I didn't know what it was all about," said Doug Blalock, who was looking to spice up his normal routine.
He signed up for a tough mudder in 2013.
"You want to be able to do every one of them -- say, 'I earned my T-shirt,'" he said.
Tough mudders are the most intense version of mud runs, with some obstacles even containing electricity. That's where Blalock shocked his ear.
"You're on your belly, crawling in mud and it has the wires hanging down that are charged with fence chargers, so as you're crawling under there you're constantly getting shocked with what's charged by the fence chargers. I almost made it to the end and apparently one charger was turned up pretty high and zapped me on the ear," he said.
His injury, described as a growth on his ear, finally healed. It took two years, but he's lucky. Other people have complained of getting burned, getting injuries and one woman lost her vision.
"My eye started hurting, like maybe I got some debris in my eye," Brittany Williams said.
Williams, of North Texas, described her mud run recovery as something from a horror movie.
"You have to stay awake and they take scissors and cut. I know, it's really gross!" she said.
Doctors said they believe her cornea was scratched at some point diving into the muddy water, which made her eye susceptible to severe infection.
"It just completely melted off of my eye," Williams said.
Baylor Dr. Irvin Sulapas said cornea scratches are very concerning since they can create a list of long term problems and are more likely to happen on a mud run than another physical challenge.
"It's the same risk as when you leave your contacts in overnight, but the difference between that and a mud run is you're not having the potential bacteria that's in that," Sulapas said.
A 2012 Centers for Disease Control report found 22 people in Nevada who participated in one of the runs unintentionally consumed the mud and ended up with a bacteria that left them a fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
"You're forcing yourself to go through the mud, climb obstacle courses, so you're putting yourself at more risk to potential infection than just going out on a general run or walk outside," Sulapas said.
Blalock said now he'll stick to those general workouts and avoid extreme courses.
"I think there are plenty of things they can do to keep the challenge and keep the excitement but reduce the risk of somebody having a life-changing injury," Blalock said.
Meanwhile, Williams continues to collect donations on a GoFundMe page since her injury occurred while she wasn't covered by insurance.
Harris County EMS said the most frequent injury they see at mud runs is hypothermia. They said at a mud run last year at least a dozen people were taken by ambulance after going through an obstacle with ice in the water.
