Attempts 27/28/29 July

[Stolly]

Hi

Stolly, that rash does look pretty:w00t: hope it goes away soon. I reckon it was the bracken...its dodgy stuff.

Haha the rash actually looks much worse than the picture Hes - the flash on my camera has whited out a lot of the blotches. I think it was going through an area of tall wispy grass myself

[Hes]

My money is on the bracken. There are a few legitimate reports on the health implications of contact with bracken and they mention that some people get severe rashes. Its also carcinogenic to animals which is why a lot of money gets spent on eradicating it in certain areas. The spores are carcinogenic too, not that that is relevant at this time of year but it could be the grass. Another suggestion is the insects that live in the bracken may have caused it.

Haha the rash actually looks much worse than the picture Hes - the flash on my camera has whited out a lot of the blotches. I think it was going through an area of tall wispy grass myself

[protodoc]

Just remember to wear leggings for legs 1 and 2 next time Stolly:wink:

[Bob]

There's a video interview with Nicky by Trail Running magazine here - http://t.co/5o0D3Fou just after she finished.

[Stagger]

Just remember to wear leggings for legs 1 and 2 next time Stolly:wink:

Full waterproofs in bad weather my help next time Stolly.
I do hope you get round, but you may have to plan a little better with your pre event races.

[Stolly]

Full waterproofs in bad weather my help next time Stolly.

Don't worry I had full waterproofs (and spares)

[stevefoster]

My money is on the bracken. There are a few legitimate reports on the health implications of contact with bracken and they mention that some people get severe rashes. Its also carcinogenic to animals which is why a lot of money gets spent on eradicating it in certain areas. The spores are carcinogenic too, not that that is relevant at this time of year but it could be the grass. Another suggestion is the insects that live in the bracken may have caused it.

Doesn't surprise me, ran through some bracken at weekend and the smell was rank!
Hope you get sorted with the rash Stolly

[fellgazelle]

Hi Stolly,
I get a similar rash when running through long grasses, the sort of stuff you find in the bottom of hedgerows such as meadow grasses, nettles, hemlock, etc and also wheat and oilseed rape fields. I can react really badly and the rash I get appears more intense (for want of a better word) than your photo. This all came to a head last summer when a 10 mile run passing through fields of rape and wheat resulted in anaphylactic shock.
The sort of grasses on the fells, reeds, bracken and Heather don't appear to affect me at all, so tend to run in the peak or Lakes whenever possible during the summer months and try to avoid running off road in my local area unless my legs are covered.

[Stolly]

Hi Stolly,
I get a similar rash when running through long grasses, the sort of stuff you find in the bottom of hedgerows such as meadow grasses, nettles, hemlock, etc and also wheat and oilseed rape fields. I can react really badly and the rash I get appears more intense (for want of a better word) than your photo. This all came to a head last summer when a 10 mile run passing through fields of rape and wheat resulted in anaphylactic shock.
The sort of grasses on the fells, reeds, bracken and Heather don't appear to affect me at all, so tend to run in the peak or Lakes whenever possible during the summer months and try to avoid running off road in my local area unless my legs are covered.

Thanks fellgazelle. My doctor mentioned the possibility of anaphylactic shock when I saw him too but luckily I didn't suffer from that. My rash is starting to recede now (I think) but it was really weird at the time. I do recall my legs feeling prickly (like stinger nettle stings) from the bottom of Clough Head having run through a big patch of very tall wispy grass but to be honest my legs usually take a battering from thorns and heather so the prickliness wasn't something particularly out of the ordinary. And while I was running I didn't notice a rash at all (I was wearing baggy running shorts and wouldn't have been able to see much any way) but when I changed into my running tights in the pub at Wasdale it was kind of worrying to see the blotches, although even then my total knackeredness took my mind off it at the time. I didn't then change out of my running tights until Sunday afternoon (haha, we were camping ) and the rash by then had reached beubonic plague like proportions (well almost).

As to whether the allergy affected my running I will never know. I did feel unexpectedly weary very early into the second leg but that could have been my lack of tapering and previous running coming into play. Either way the weather later on wiped the attempt so its neither here nor there really.

[Hanneke]

I have had a similar allergic reaction years ago... not running, but walking through I think it was a barley field or some such, similar crop anyway... It made me feel feverish and under the weather tired, as well as causing a violent rash... So would not be at all surprised if you were affected by it, other than the rash...