A recent lawsuit casts a light on the dangers of a trend that one could argue has swept the nation as of late: the proliferation of obstacle courses in which people brave the elements in a bid to outdo their fellow race participants. Such races typically find the runners facing down a host of obstacles meant to test their mettle, but in a bid to make each course more hardcore than the last, safety could get lost in the shuffle.
An obstacle called Gravity’s Revenge was apparently too vengeful for some. Revenge, a plastic-covered slope that led into a 15 foot drop into a ravine, was one of the many obstacles that made up the the Extreme K Mud Run in Silverdale, Washington. One woman, though, fell while navigating this particular hazard, and she ended up sustaining breaks to every bone in her ankle. This required 11 screws to correct, and the woman fears her career as a police officer has been compromised.
As such, she and two others have filed suit against the Kitsap Mall and the Chamber of Commerce, the organizers behind the event. They claim the course and that obstacle in particular were beyond the bounds of what could be deemed acceptable.
If you ever decide to participate in an event like this, make sure it’s safe. And sponsors should be sure they have taken pains to ensure an event doesn’t become too extreme.