Forums >Racing>Finally happens: Runners sue organizers for unsafe extreme mudrun course
I'm shocked. Shocked.
This run occurred in Silverdale WA (sorta near Seattle) back in October. Broken bones and stuff.
Injured mud runners sue; say course was too dangerous.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Yep, we have a guy in this area who dove head-first into a mud-pit, became paralyzed, and is now suing...because one of the hecklers taunting him to dive was an event staffer. Sounds to me like one of those dudes who never could think on his own and caved to peer pressure.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Oh roo roooo!
This whole "extreme mud run" thing has scared me right from the get-go, but I thought it was just b/c I'm old and crunchy, not 21 and bullet-proof any more. Guess I actually have good reason, after all.
The thing that clinched my never doing a mud run was when I read about the electrified wires hanging down...I mean, W T F! Saw absolutely no point in that. Just foolishness, and waaaay too many other opportunities to get really hurt, not just a boo-boo on your knee or whatever.
There was actually a case before this one that was even posted by SRL.
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
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Hmm, just re-read that article and wondering about this statetment:
A veteran mud runner, Davis broke every bone in her ankle when she fell on the obstacle, which was a slope lined with watered-down plastic that turned into a 15-foot fall into a ravine. "I looked at my ankle and there was a large protrusion from the front where the bone dislocated from the femur," she said. Her ankle is now held together by 11 screws, and Davis feels her career as a Paulsbo Police officer is over.For most of us, the femur (thigh bone) does not connect to the ankle bone...?
This whole "extreme mud run" thing has scared me right from the get-go, but I thought it was just b/c I'm old and crunchy, not 21 and bullet-proof any more. Guess I actually have good reason, after all. The thing that clinched my never doing a mud run was when I read about the electrified wires hanging down...I mean, W T F! Saw absolutely no point in that. Just foolishness, and waaaay too many other opportunities to get really hurt, not just a boo-boo on your knee or whatever.
What gets me is how these events tend to attract people who don't even run 500 miles in an entire year. I have several friends who are way into these races and "adventure races." These are people who never race further than 5k and rarely run more than 10 miles/week. I guess they feel hardcore doing these races. I'd rather compete in a real trail race when it's been really rainy...when mud is simply weather-induced (one of my very favorite and memorable races was a 15k evening race after it had poured for about 24 hours. I destroyed a brand new pair of shoes and had a blast). I'm not a fan of big, crowded, $$ races, which is what these events generally are.
Don't they have you sign extreme waivers so they can't be sued for this type of stuff? I have never done one of these and probably never will, but I imagine they cover themselves legally for this reason.
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What REALLY gets me is how much money people are willing to pay to race (I use that term loosely) one of these things!!!
I can guarantee you will not find my name in the participant listings for anything like this. I even have a friend that puts on a few of these things and can do them for free so its more then just the cash that keeps me away.
These things have to be a major cash cow, given the entry fees and sheer # of participants. The one around here is about 3-4 hours long with waves every 15 minutes, IIRC. Each wave is at least 100 people.
Feeling the growl again
Those waivers are of relatively limited value in protecting them. I'm not a lawyer but there are numerous ways to sue and claim the waiver does not protect them from certain liabilities. For example if you sign a waiver saying "I understand this is dangerous and injury may result and I assume all the risk" etc etc, but then the organizer exhibits wanton disregard for your safety, you can sue them and say the waiver does not apply to that.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
I've done 2 Tough Mudders, both were over 11 miles long and consisted of over 20 physical challenges. I'm preregistered for another 2 this year. I find them lots of fun, but there is the very real threat of injury...or worse. And yes, I had to sign a waiver, date it, initialize it..everything. In the waiver I acknowledge that not only is it possible to get injured during the event, it's possible that one could die.
Did I mention that they're a lot of fun too?
I note that Davis is quoted in the article you linked as describing the obstacle as "not something a reasonable person would do", which makes me wonder why she would do it, and whether her statement could be used as a defense by the organizers. In other words she had the option to detour round that part of the course, but chose not to.
It is a mistake to call these things races, I have seen photos on my nieces' Facebook pages of 40 people or more waiting to go over one of the obstacles. Both my nieces are Crossfitters, possibly a demographic target for promoters of this type of event. No doubt a challenging and fun way to get dirty, but not my thing.
PBs since age 60: 5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.
10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.
That quote is precisely the logic they are trying to use to skirt the waiver they assuredly signed. And, honestly, it's hard to tell HOW extreme something might be until you are in the middle of it.
For those who don't know much about these runs, they include such ha ha obstacles as electrified wires and pools. ZAP.
Not my thing.
Jess runs for bacon
I remember the one zoomzoom cited, from what I read the guy was being pretty stupid.
They make it pretty clear you can get hurt doing these. I was very careful at the one I did, although I did manage to get a nice scar across my leg, it was safe as long as you were careful. I saw a lot of people doing a lot of stupid stuff though.
A running friend of mine works at the hotel where the very first Tough Mudder was held. She did the one the next year, but had to promise to not do the monkey bars because of the sheer amount of injuries she saw on that. The water pit was very shallow so when people dropped off, bad things happened.