LAS VEGAS -- The Southern Nevada Health District quickly raced to find out what caused hundreds of runners in this year's Rock N' Roll Las Vegas Marathon to complain of diarrhea and vomiting.
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"Most people said they got sick during the marathon when they were running. They were probably infected with something prior to that," said Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman Stephanie Bethel.
Health officials ruled out the water being served during the marathon as the source of the illness.
"What happened was they probably drank a little water, and then got sick, and then automatically assumed it was the water and that was not necessarily the case," Bethel said.
The health department surveyed roughly 1,000 runners after the race on December 4th. Nearly half reported feeling ill during the race. Bethel says it's unlikely the water they drank would have affected them so quickly.
"Most of those viral infections or other pathogens, there's an incubation period of several hours to several days," she said.
Speculation and stories about the gastrointestinal outbreak swirled for days, but some runners believe the source is simple.
Coach and runner Tim Kelly says evening marathons always pose a challenge for people who try to balance their diets on race day.
"The biggest struggle is for people to try and figure out what to eat and when to eat it," he said. "I can tell you from being at the finish line for as long as I was, three and a half to four hours, we didn't have a single person come through (and) complain about (gastrointestinal) issues. It was a lot of skeletal problems."
Kelly says he hopes the incident won't affect next year's race.
Health officials say data does not support the idea out-of-town marathoners became sick, because they aren't used to the desert climate. Additionally, the illness did not appear to affect inexperienced runners more than veteran participants.
The Health District will continue testing, but concedes it may never be able to pinpoint the source.
Competitor Group – the company that owns and operates the marathon – said in a statement:
"Competitor Group has cooperated with the Southern Nevada Health District's investigation into the concerns of runners following the Las Vegas Marathon. We are pleased that Dr. Lawrence Sands, chief health officer, concluded, 'At this time, our investigation does not point to water given to runners as the likely source of the infection.' We will continue to support the health district in their ongoing efforts."
