Huh, when you put it that way.

[attractivegeekery]

With the help of a friend I drafted and sent a letter to the Run For Your Lives people today.
Finally, you know...after nearly a year.
Hush, don't judge me.

The letter looked like this:

Hi. My name is Karen and I was a participant in your inaugural run last October in Maryland. I'm writing because although I had a great time at the race, I have some public safety concerns regarding contamination in the river water. When my head went under during my swim across the water hazard at the race, I believe I contracted giardia (http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/giardia/). The initial infection was deeply unpleasant and difficult to diagnose, and for the last year, I have been dealing with complications, including multiple fungal ear infections and a kidney infection that resulted in my hospitalization.

According to multiple health reports from the last decade, giardia has been found in the Susquehanna River several times in recent years. Due to the timing, lack of any other potential sources of contagion, and absence of any outbreaks where I live, I have little doubt that the river water was the source of my infection. I strongly suggest that if you are using the same campground for your race as you did last year, you either test the water prior to the race or simply omit the natural water hazard altogether. At the very least, participants deserve to be warned of the potential danger, as the health consequences can be severe.

Thanks for your time. Good luck with the race, and may your runners fare well against the shambling hoards.

Sincerely,

Karen

p.s. Fast zombies are an abomination.

I know that things always look differently from the inside, vs outside, but it wasn't until I'd typed out

including multiple fungal ear infections and a kidney infection that resulted in my hospitalization.

that it really sunk in.

I've been to see the doctor at least once a month since February.
I've been on one anti-parasite drug.
Three different kinds of ear drops.
Two intravenous antibiotics.
Two oral antibiotics.
Have made two trips to the emergency room.
And have spent three days/two nights as an inpatient.

I've lot at minimum two weeks work because of this in the past year.

When it's typed all together like that it seems so much more horrific than it does in my head, and it's pretty less than savory already.

Who knows if the race people will respond. Probably not seeing as I sent the message via Facebook of all things. But, it's done and all I can do is take things one day at a time.

Comments

[dramawench]

Good for you for writing, no matter where you send it. (Though I think it would be beneficial to send it to their main email address, too). No one else should have to go through what you did over this past year.

[attractivegeekery]

I think I'm going to give them a business day before I send it to another location. Then reference how I sent it to their Facebook page originally.

The website itself doesn't seem to have a snailmail location, but there is a Contact Us form letter I can fill out.

I'm also considering contacting the parent company listed at the footer of the site.

Am kind of curious if anyone else who ran came down with this too.

[silveraspen]

It's a notifiable disease, so CDC data on incidence is available. It'd be hard to get down beyond the regional aggregate, though, unless there was enough of an uptick in that timeframe to spark a closer investigation.

ETA: Found them. The parent company at the bottom of the site - Reed Street Productions - is the company that evidently originated the RFYL idea and currently organizes/administers the races. They're MD based, privately held, with 30 employees.

Reed Street Productions
9940 Franklin Square Drive
Suite E
Baltimore, Maryland 21236

http://www.linkedin.com/company/reed-street-productions

ETA2: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/business-rx-reed-street-productions-races-to-hire-talent/2012/05/11/gIQAAKHxMU_story.html - their "success story," with background/history.

[silveraspen]

If you get the impression I'm not 100% impressed with their "brand," you'd be right. I had fun, no question, but they have some problems with their site selection at the VERY least, and as far as I'm concerned what happened to you is a perfect example of that.

[attractivegeekery]

HA! Thank you for the information. I'm blessed to have so many friends who are not only passionate, but have resources and patience!

I wonder if there's anyway I could find out if there was an uptick in giardia in that area. Though...I wonder how many people traveled from afar for that event. Or am I just one of the lucky few.

[skygiants]

Given everything you went through, that's an astoundingly polite letter. I hope they listen!

[attractivegeekery]

That's for two reasons:

1) The more I worry and obsess over words, the more formal my writing becomes.

2) It was proofed and edited by a friend of mine who is far more eloquent than I am.

[shati]

It is in fact pretty horrific. :\ All things considered, your letter is pretty astoundingly nice.

[attractivegeekery]

My first draft was like:

WHY YOU DO THIS THING?!

[shati]

That would also be a valid letter...