A hard dose of reality...

 

Click to read news article about Tony Weathers' death at the Original Mud Run 

This past Saturday, April 14th, athlete Tony Weathers prepared himself to run an obstacle race called The Original Mud Run in Forth Worth, TX. He started the competitive wave at 2pm, but he never finished. The next morning his body was found in the Trinity river, one of the handful of water crossings that were part of the course.

According to news sources, Tony was an elite athlete, planning to open up his own personal training business soon. And while the website for The Original Mud Run, or OMR, says that you don't necessarily need to know how to swim because they have guide ropes and alternate land routes, Tony's trainer and family all say he was a strong swimmer.



So the question is then, what happened? While at the moment, all anyone can do is speculate, there's a good amount of eye-witness accounts as well as a GoPro video that all claim/show the same thing: lack of lifeguards or any assistance in the water. I've read multiple comments stating that there were too many people in the water, that there were either very few lifeguards or, in later waves, no lifeguards at all.

In this GoPro video, you can clearly hear people yelling for help and for lifeguards. It's obvious there was panic in the water.

It also probably didn't help that some moron decided that anyone running the competitive wave had to wear camouflage pants and BOOTS, which can drag down even the strongest of swimmers. It doesn't matter how strong of a swimmer you are, all it takes is one person in a panic to push you under in their attempt to keep themselves up, or one kick to the head and it can all be over before you even have a chance. Something along those lines is probably what happened to Tony Weathers, although like I said all we can really do right now is speculate.

Except that we CAN do more than that. We can make sure that we are aware of the inherent risks that we take when we run these events. Now, I've seen and heard about injuries like broken (insert body part here), concussions, even a seizure at the Electroshock Therapy (Obstacle with live wires loaded with up to 10k volts of electricity. HATE.) in Austin last year. I think most of us are aware of and are OK with taking those kinds of risks. But I know for myself and I'm sure many others, while I accept that I may (and have) injure myself, the risk of death never really crosses my mind while I'm running. (Except maybe at World's Toughest Mudder, but mainly because I thought my limbs were going to just start falling off they were so frozen)

I always describe obstacle races as "giant playgrounds for adults", and since it's an organized event* you assume that if you get into trouble, either another racer or safety personnel will be there to help you out. We need to remember that won't always be the case. Unfortunately it took a tragedy like this to remind us of that.

For the record, I'm not one to normally blame the race organization when there is an accident. Case in point: a man became paralyzed last year during a Warrior Dash after diving head first into a mud pit and his family claim that WD is at fault. I feel badly for that man, but I'm sorry, the only responsible for that accident is him. HE chose to dive HEAD FIRST into a shallow mud pit, no one from the race pointed a gun at him and forced him to do it. The same goes for pretty much every accident I've seen at these races. I do think, however, that this case is an exception to that. I think from the eye witness accounts and the videos that there was gross negligence on the part of the Original Mud Run organization which ultimately led to this athlete's death. Overcrowding in the water, not enough/no visible lifeguards, useless "guide" rope, etc are all things that could have been controlled by the company and yet weren't.  

Tony Weathers was not some out of shape weekend warrior. He was an elite athlete. If something like this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. I'm lucky enough and honored to know many of the top athletes in Obstacle Racing: Margaret Schlachter, Todd Sedlak, Joel Gat, Amelia Boone, and many, many more** and even my trainer and friend Andre', who has never come in anything less that 3rd place in any of his obstacle races (except World's Toughest Mudder, but even then he completed 3 full laps and was in the top 50) and I hope that this unfortunate event serves as a reminder that even the most badass of bad asses need to make sure that they aren't lulled into a false sense of security just because they are in a familiar environment that they are comfortable in.
(Many apologies for the fact that almost that entire paragraph was one long run on sentence.)

Tips to stay just a smidge safer while being a bad ass:

 -HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE: start a few days before the event. I'm not going to sit here and tell you how many ounces to drink per day, blah blah blah. Everyone is different, every person has their own needs. For me, I start about 2 days prior, increasing my water intake to about 6 bottles of water a day, as well as about a bottle of chia water*** each day. The day before the race I'll add an additional 1-2 bottles of water with NUUN's tablets, and the day of the race I'll drink some Gaterade mixed with coconut water and chia seeds.

-Dress appropriately: Obstacle racing rule#1? NO COTTON. It absorbs all the water that you'll go through, weighing you down and can cause some nasty chaffing in your nether-regions. Also, make sure you're wearing the right shoes;they need to be comfortable and appropriate for whatever terrain you're going to be on. Biggest rookie mistake I've seen in both regular races and obstacle races is people buying brand news shoes and wearing them for the first time at the race. For obstacle races, I love my Brook's Cascadia trail shoes, they get great grip on the mud and while they can get a little heavy after tromping through the water, the traction I get is worth it.

Andre' and I at Tough Mudder

-Run with a buddy! Now, I'm not saying you have to, especially if you're racing for time. But, if you're a back-of-the-pack-er like me, running with a buddy makes it that much more fun! For me, the whole draw of obstacle racing and it's community are the people, camaraderie and teamwork involved.

Now, with all that said, get out there, tear through some mud, be safe and HAVE FUN!

 


* or, apparently massively UNorganized event in this case

** you all know who you are, my fellow WTF's!

***Chia seeds  mixed with water to form a gel. The chia seeds absorb whatever liquid they're in and release that liquid as they get digested, keeping you hydrated from the inside.SAVED MY  LIFE this past summer of hellacious heat.