Originally Posted by
canam73
How common place is soiling oneself? Is mainly an Ironman thing? Apparently I live a sheltered existance because I have not noticed anything during the handful od sprint triathlons I've been in. Nor have I during any bike or run only events. I do remember seeing or reading about a top level female marathon runner taking care of business while on the move but that was during the 80's I think.
Back in the early 80s when the Hawaiian Ironman was still on Wide World of Sports or something like that, there was a famous scene where Julie Moss was very, very close to the finish line and was about to win when she collapsed near the finish line and not only lost the race, but lost control of her bodily functions. That went a long way to establishing the lore of the IM being a gruel fest, and lots of people either remember it, have heard about it, or make the connection between triathlons and losing control of your bodily functions. Even when I did my first Ironman, I'm pretty sure my dad was more concerned about that than anything else.