5 of the wildest stories of marathon runners, from pooping their pants to finishing the race with broken bones

• The challenges of marathon running can lead to awe-inspiring and sometimes silly circumstances.
• Marathon athletes frequently deal with pooping during the race, and aren't afraid to share the details. 
• Other runners have told inspiring stories about making tough choices like racing with broken bones or stopping for someone in need.

Running the 26.2 miles of a marathon is an incredible feat of athleticism and resilience — but it's just as much of a showcase of the absurdities of the human experience, whether by bizarre circumstances, the quirks of biology, or a bit of both. 

Experienced athletes have shared their sometimes funny, often awe-inspiring, and definitely weird anecdotes from race day. 

Whether it's wrestling with bad digestion, fighting through serious injury, or slowing to a walk to do a good deed, these stories highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly that a marathon can offer.

Pooping your pants during a marathon is more common than you think

All of us are subject to answering nature's call, and elite athletes are no exception. 

Unfortunately, the human gastrointestinal system isn't big on convenience, and doesn't take no for an answer, even if you're on track for a personal record and would rather not stop for a  bathroom break. 

When Tamara Torlakson felt the urge to go halfway through the 2018 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon in California, she pooped in her shorts while running rather than slow down, and didn't regret it. 

"It just came out and I felt a lot better," she previously told Insider.

Torklakson finished the remaining miles at a personal record pace, wasting no energy worrying about her soiled shorts. 

She said she "didn't give a shit" if other people noticed she had just taken one.

"Marathoners don't judge," she added.

Nearing the finish line, Torlakson announced "I pooped my pants!" to her friends. After ending the race with a time of three hours, seven minutes, beating her previous best by one minute, 20 seconds, she proceeded to the nearest porta-potty to clean up with some baby wipes. 

Torlakson is far from the only person to deuce on the go. A 1992 study of long-distance athletes found that 12 percent reported pooping their pants while running.

One woman had to stop 9 times to poop during a race

For every athlete that poops their pants during a race, there are many, many more than take extensive precautions to avoid such a fate. 

The 1992 study of runners found that 62% reported taking a poo break while training. 

But for Deirdre Keane, one break wasn't enough, Insider previously reported. During the 2014 Philadelphia Marathon, she felt her stomach churning and rushed to the nearest bathroom stop — then had to visit every subsequent porta-potty across more than half the race. 

"My strategy became to sprint as fast as I could, mile to mile, to make it to the port-a-potty before the next explosion," she said. "I visited nine porta-potty in 16 miles that day. At mile 17, I was finally OK."

The unconventional racing technique earned her a personal best finish of three hours, 38 minutes.

Experts previously told Insider that running is conducive to digestive stress in part because of the rhythmic motion of the exercise. Strategies like eating an early breakfast of quick-acting carbs, and avoiding spicy, greasy, or fiber-rich foods can help prevent poop problems during a run.

This year's World Marathon runners faced food poisoning, vomiting, and diarrhea at once

Keane's explosive marathon PR wasn't her only encounter with bodily functions during a race. Nearly a decade later in 2023, she took on the grueling challenge of running seven marathons across all seven continents in one week, known as the World Marathon Challenge.

In addition to the crushing mileage and mind-boggling logistics, she said the event was beset by gastrointestinal issues, including food poisoning that left athletes unable to eat, or unable to stop ejecting their food from either end. 

One woman "puked-slash-had-diarrhea on all seven continents," according to Keane. 

Broken bones couldn't stop an Olympian from setting a new marathon record

Molly Seidel was used to being an underdog in distance running. As a surprise qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she became a breakout star by earning a bronze medal while running her third-ever marathon. 

A tough act to follow, Seidel managed to up the ante even more three months later at the 2021 New York City Marathon.

Not only did Seidel finish with a time of two hours, 24 minutes, and 42 seconds — a course record for an American athlete, and fourth place overall — she did it with two broken ribs.

Seidel told Insider's Meredith Cash that she had cracked her ribs a month prior to the race, and considered dropping out because of persistent ache in her chest. After consulting with her team, she decided to compete in the marathon with the broken bones because she had "invested too much" in the opportunity. 

Seidel said in a press conference in New York that the injury was painful, but she was able to push through. 

"It started hurting later in the race — like badly," she said. "But I didn't feel like it was messing up my stride or anything."

A runner gave up her personal best pace to care for a kitten 

Not every weird story ends in a personal record. Sarah Bohan, a 26-year-old runner from Boston, opted to give up her shot at a faster time in the service of a greater good — a tiny kitten. 

Just five miles from the end of the 2023 Chicago Marathon, and well on track to hit a personal record, Bohan caught a glimpse of a bit of white fluff along the route. It turned out to be a kitten, dirty, skinny, and scared, without any apparent help nearby. As luck would have it, Bohan was racing for an animal welfare group called Team PAWS Chicago and wasn't about to leave the little feline to go it alone.

Bohan tucked the furry baby to her chest and carried it along the course, along the way encountering another runner who joined in on the quest to find a home for the kitten. They eventually encountered a spectator who offered to give their new friend a good home, and passed off their cute cargo, according to a representative from Team PAWS. 

The pair then finished the race side-by-side, stopping again to help an injured runner cross the finish line. Bohan ended with a time of three hours, 31 minutes (about 18 minutes shy of her best time) but the kitten won a new lease on life, and is "thriving" with the new family, according to a follow-up story from Insider's Meredith Cash.

Anna Medaris Miller and Meredith Cash previously contributed reporting for this story.