Las Vegas marathon runners say they were sickened

The water tasted metallic and stale, but runner Charlene Ragsdale needed to replenish her fluids if she were to finish Sunday's half-marathon at the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon.

Nerves twisted up her stomach, at least, that's what she thought.

Suddenly, it wasn't just the taste that didn't seem right, it was the way her body was reacting once she was done drinking.

Rock 'n' Roll had taken on a whole new meaning.

Soon, the 50-year-old Las Vegan was doubled over from stomach cramps "worse than childbirth." Violent vomiting and explosive diarrhea almost kept her from crossing the finish line.

As Ragsdale reached another water station, she saw water being pumped from a nearby fire hydrant with white hoses into a plastic lined garbage can. Event volunteers wearing plastic gloves would dip cups into the cans and pass them off to runners.

It didn't look filtered or flushed, and it didn't look safe, she said.

"The pain was horrible," Ragsdale said. "I realized I was in serious, serious trouble. Something is wrong now."

Runners all around her slowed their pace as they, too, struggled and appeared to be in pain. People began throwing up all around her, she said.

"I was thinking, 'Did we have a war and not know about it?' " Ragsdale said.

She kept asking for help -- an ambulance or a medic. She was twice pointed to the portable toilets by event volunteers and police and told to keep walking to stay warm. It wasn't until the 12th mile that she finally got someone to listen to her that she needed an ambulance. She was transported to a St. Rose Dominican hospital campus for hypothermia and dehydration. Her husband also became violently ill after the race and experienced similar symptoms, she added.

It's unclear exactly how many race participants were sickened, but Ragsdale's story is echoed by dozens of other runners, who participated in the race, on the event's Facebook page.

Participant Sara Raetz-Day posted Wednesday, "Yeah...3 days post race and I still feel queezy. Actually puked after the race, which has never happened."

Another runner, Paul Arroyo, posted that he stopped drinking the water at the event once he saw hoses coming from the hydrant.

But according to officials at the Las Vegas Valley Water District, water in the race area, near the Wynn, was tested days before the event and came back clean. The water district collects 35,000 samples annually from around the distribution system to test water quality. There were no complaints from the hotel, either.

J.C. Davis, water district spokesman, said event organizers rented a district meter, a chamber that screws onto a hydrant, allowing access and tracks water usage. Hoses connected to the hydrants are provided by meter renters, not by the water district, Davis added.

"Unfortunately, we can't be responsible for how people are going to utilize and dispense the water once it gets out of our distribution system," Davis said. "We don't know how well they sanitized the containers. New containers actually emit certain chemicals when mixed with water for the first time. They're not designed as giant drinking glasses."

San Diego-based Competitor Group, which owns all the Rock 'n' Roll events around the country, said the water distribution process is not unusual. CEO Peter Englehart said that is not only standard operating procedure for his company's events around the country, but for almost all major running events.

"That's the plan, and we have it in every city. We've done it in Las Vegas the past two years, and we've been assured by the water district that it's potable," Englehart said.

"It's the process we've followed in 25 other cities around the country. Every big event in the country does that, and even some smaller events."

Davis said he was concerned that people were using their hands to dip cups into an open container exposed to thousands of race participants.

"You wouldn't do that in a restaurant," he said. "I don't know what the source of it was. All I know is what it looked like when we delivered it essentially through the meter."

As for the "metallic and stale" taste?

"We do a lot of water quality outreach, and people generally don't like the taste of our water," Davis said. "There's a high mineral content and high chlorine residual. It wouldn't surprise me if someone said the water tastes funny."

Jennifer Sizemore, Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman, said the health district has received only one complaint. However, the discussion has prompted district officials to reach out to the event coordinator next year to ensure water is coming from an appropriate source .

Ragsdale, an experienced runner who ran in 26 races this year, said she will never race in the marathon again.

"I will never put my life in danger with them again," Ragsdale said.

"I really thought I was going to die, and that's not an exaggeration. There was a lack of care, and I didn't know what was going on with me. ... Something was amiss. Something was horribly wrong."

Review-Journal writer Patrick Everson contributed to this report. Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@ reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.

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Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. Yvonne.Mirshafiee Dec. 12, 2011 | 12:32 p.m. Report Abuse

   I was knocked down and fell pretty hard on both knees and hip..onto the pavement by a runner that was barreling on the sidelines, shouting 'to the right!' The problem was that I had nowhere to go since people were elbowing each other on every side... I fell at about 2 miles into the race... I (barely jogged) from Treasure Island to the Stratosphere.. finally found a medic tent and they bandaged me up... walked the rest of the way. I drank water at every station... At about the MGM Grand I began getting so sick, cramping, sweating, and by the time I crossed the finish line, I could barely stand from the cramps, so nauseaous, and needing to get to a restroom in a hurry...My husband met me at the finish line and I told him I thought there was something terribly wrong because I was so sick... by the time i walked all the way to the 2nd floor of the Mandalay Bay to get to the restroom, I ended up on the floor...nowhere to sit. I was not the only one with Diarahhea and vomiting. There were so many people in the bathrooms. Awful experience. I still have bruises on both knees, and the wound on one knee is still healing from the fall. Too many people... lots of aggressive people...

2. Volunteer Dec. 9, 2011 | 4:18 p.m. Report Abuse

   I was a volunteer at a water station and it is an understatement to say that the water was handled under unsanitary conditions. Large trash cans were lined with black plastic trash bags and filled with hoses. I don't know where the hose was attached and I have no idea of the cleanliness of plastic trash bags straight off the roll. Team leaders had us wear gloves but never changed them. They gave us pitchers that had been sitting on the ground or on the dirty tables to dunk and re-dunk into the water filled trash bags in order to fill up paper cups. We were instructed to put three layers of cups on each table separated by a thin cardboard sheet that they had placed on the street. These cardboard sheets were placed on the lips of the cups. Many of my friends were sickened and those that didn't get sick should feel grateful due to these water handling techniques. My friends are asking for a refund but it seems to me that the Health Department should get involved.

3. George.Shaw Dec. 9, 2011 | 8:47 a.m. Report Abuse

   umm . . . I don't think it's just whining. I ran it and am local so wasn't in any buffets or anything. Have run half and full marathons before and never experienced anything quite like this. At mile 10 what I thought was a clenched stomach became really painful -- made it to the finish line and home but was violently sick that night and the next. Had a cup of cytomax early and thought that's why my stomach was off so made sure after that to only drink the water . . . bad call!!!
   
   That said, I hope the race organizers can repair the public reputation damage. This had a lot of promise as a diversifying base for LV -- we are an ideal running climate and terrain -- but I am afraid this may be irretrievable. They need to do a major PR outreach, acknowledge fault, and figure out the fix or give this up to someone who can do a decent half and whole marathon. I'm dating myself but I loved the old course along the desert's edge on the frontage raod from Jean to the southend of the strip.

4. ACSLATER Dec. 9, 2011 | 7:56 a.m. Report Abuse

   Again, weird how 40,000 people cross the finish line and less than 1% are whining about how "BAD" it was and the water taste SO TERRIBLE! I ran it, I felt fine, I did great. I drank the water, taste fine. I drank the Cytomax, taste fine. It is normal practice to have water in "garbage cans", it's only a garbage can though when garbage is in it, until then, it's a metal or plastic barrel.

5. Eccentric Dec. 8, 2011 | 11:11 p.m. Report Abuse

   I think it is a case of mass hysteria. I ran the 1/2 and drank the water at just about all of the stations and had zero issues. 4 days later, still no problems. Folks, while I had my issues with RnR, not only have they responded to me on my concerns, I think they are striving hard to correct the issues. Quit the bashing them, you can only beat a horse so much.

6. outsider Dec. 8, 2011 | 9:46 p.m. Report Abuse

   There isn't a soul that drinks water directly from the tap in Las Vegas. Why would anyone force a finely tuned athlete to ingest water from a FIRE HYDRANT? Everyone in Las Vegas knows that fire hydrants are a source of NON-POTABLE WATER. Of course water officials are going to lie through their teeth. That water has been contaminated since the early 90's. Federal EPA has fined Republic Services time and time again ( A MILLION BUCKS last time ) for contaminating Lake Mead with CANCER CAUSING CHEMICALS. The Sunrise Landfill bleeds into the Las Vegas Wash EVERYDAY. If you drink that sewer sludge, yhou took years off the end of your marathoning...

7. mistrust Dec. 8, 2011 | 9:14 p.m. Report Abuse

   The water was tested up until 3days prior to the race, but was the connectors for the hoses, the hoses, and the buckets all properly sanitized prior to use? Did the volunteers wear gloves? shouldn't the buckets have covers on them so that nothing could enter the drinking water? Just a thought.

8. Clint Eastwood Dec. 8, 2011 | 8:58 p.m. Report Abuse

   This was my first marathon event ever and I ran the 1/2. I drank from numerous water stations during my run. I never once felt ill or felt any of the issues others seemed to have. Since I had no other race exposure I do nto know what to compare it to but I can say the organization was poor in many areas. It is obvious that something with the water was at issue and I hope the R n R folks get it corrected. It is a great event and could be a shining leader in marathon races.

9. RunnerinTx Dec. 8, 2011 | 8:29 p.m. Report Abuse

   In the email apology and survey, Competitor admits to:
   OVERCROWDING at
   -The Start and Finish lines
   - Gear check area
   -Mandalay Bay post race
   -And the Course, especially where the races merged
   They had logistic problems at aid stations, water stations and difficulty distributing participant amenities.
   In the apology email the CEO indicates he's "committed to earning your trust once again and resolving the operational challenges."
   AND YET they announced they want to INCREASE this race to 60,000 runners next year!! SERIOUSLY?

10. mleach Dec. 8, 2011 | 8:27 p.m. Report Abuse

    I've run a lot over the years including this particular event before, and have never been sick like I was after this race. I was vomiting and had diarrhea to the point where I could barely stand. I don't read Vegas papers regularly being across the country and finally googled "complaints las vegas marathon" and came across the talk of how many were sickened. Those that have reported it represent likely a small fraction of the total. The end of this race was the most pathetic showing I've ever seen - I told my friends "people were dropping like flies" - and this doesn't even touch the horrendous pre- and post-race organization.

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