AIBU to think this is disgusting (needing a poo while on a run)

[Nixen]

Not a poo troll I promise, just ... staggered(!) that one of my friends disagrees with me on this and wanted to gauge opinion!

Don’t ask how the subject came up but my friend H (herself a keen runner) mentioned in response to a news article that her friend J stops for poos during her run ... ‘ She has a stomach issue, running makes her poo 🤷‍♀’ apparantly J takes wet wipes with her but H has never asked if J takes dog poo bags / nappy bags with her, so we’re not sure if she picks it up or just leaves it.

H really really doesn’t see the issue, thinks it’s super judgey to think this is disgusting, says dogs bird etc all poo outside. My view point is that things like this are what separates us from the animals!

Of course if J had an accident and was cut short / poorly I would be so sympathetic, how horrible, but to habitually choose to do this - I think that’s grim!

What do you think mumsnet? Am I really being unreasonable?!

I do run up to 10k

Anymore than that and I need anti inflammatorys after.

Some runners push it too far imo

When I camped in the desert in Morocco we had to poo in the dunes - the poo itself could be left as it dried quickly in the sun and was broken down by dung beetles etc. Toilet paper had to be burnt, there was no danger of setting anything else alight in the desert, and anything else, wipes, sanpro etc. had to be put in a plastic bag to be disposed of when we got back to town. At the opposite extreme someone took a dump in the Nursery class garden where I worked and a child rolled in it, cleaning him up was not a pleasant job.

Pooing outside itself isn't disgusting it's where you do it and how you deal with it.

Some runners push it too far imo

What do you mean by this? You might need anti-inflammatories after a 10k, but for lots of us that's hardly even a warm-up, in long run terms. Doesn't mean those of us who like to run distances are going "too far."

And no, I don't regularly poo outside. I've been caught short once, in 10 years of competitive distance running, and that was only after a very unpleasant experience with an energy gel, on an open moor, a good hour or so from the nearest public loo.

On that basis, you poop 2-3 times a day. Most people don't.

Maybe it's the effect of a healthy vegetarian diet, but I'd say a lot of people do.

Ooh that's interesting, I'm veggie and definitely do the business more than once a day.

I have digestive issues. Whilst it would never be a choice to have a poo outside I have had to on a couple of occasions. I have no ability to clear my bowels before I go out or an awareness that I might need to go. It is an urgent need and quite painful.
Luckily I live rurally and anytime this has happened I have been in private woods and dug a hole. If I'd been in a town I would have been able to find somewhere but in the middle of nowhere I couldn't hold on for that long.
Noone would choose thus course of action though I'm sure!

It rather depends where. Of the beaten track I really don't see the problem.

Why waste money on speciality poo-catching running leggings?

Just buy a set of bicycle clips.