Just curious after all that talk of people getting sick. I also got sick but not till Thursday after getting home late wednesday night. Had diarrhea and fever along with night sweats for two days , got medicine and feel much better now. I did not think the Gatorade on bike was a problem as it was from sealed bottles. I did not drink the water( ever) only used it for soaking down. On the run we had no choice but to drink the Gatorade that was not from bottle it was a powder mix. This could have been a problem but not positive. My race went awesome PR 9:35 and a Kona slot. Also the people of Cozumel were freaking great some of the best fans I have ever seen in three Ironmans. I would like to think the sickness was food born from food eaten after race but not sure of cause? How many of racers got sick a few days after race like myself? This way we can take the heat,some lack of training with fuel offered and just having a bad GI day into account as normal hard ass race conditions that caused some sickness during race. On the other hand, if a lot of us got sick after then it might have been from the course fuel offerings.
I drank the water and gatorade. water both from the bottles on the bike and those plastic bags on the run (despite them tasting off). and i had no intestinal problems. my only issue was days later after eating a late night burrito on the streets of playa. which is like playing russian roulette with a fully loaded pistol. my friend (who has a very sensitive stomach) had no issues during the race. (but did every time he ate at a non-westernized restaurant).
i think there’s a good chance all the sickness is related to food eaten before/after the race. but there is a lot of chatter from people who got sick so it does sounds like there was a higher risk than for a normal trip to mexico (which is fairly high to begin with). in any event, the non-sick people are not the ones making posts about their hard ass stomachs so i wouldnt jump to any grand conclusions about tainted water at IM Coz. that said, i wouldnt blame anyone who skipped it due to all the talk of getting sick.
I agree and was not trying to say it was from course but just wanted to see if everyone got sick after race then we would know the source. Thanks for reply.
This issue was discussed in a related thread, but let me add my two cents.
I’ve been traveling to Cozumel for over twenty-five years taking groups of divers on excursions there. The symptoms you have described are not unusual. I used to experience similar problems a few days after every trip. I would always say it was the price I willingly pay for the honor of experiencing the wonders of the island. I have not had these issues in many years and I believe that my body has probably acclimated itself to whatever (food or water borne bacteria?) causes the affliction. I would also add that fewer and fewer members of the groups I continue to take there get sick. This may be a result of obvious improvements in infrastructure and sanitation that have occurred over the years.
Please understand that these observations are based solely on an accumulation of anecdotal evidence and are in no way an attempt to disparage Cozumel or the country of Mexico. I return there every year and wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that place. The people are genuinely warm and friendly and it offers some of the best diving in the world. I run and swim every day that I’m there and hope one day to bring my bike and compete in a triathlon. I can’t think of anything better than combining my two favorite activities on one of my favorite island locations.
(reply in general)
you want to disparage the infrastructure, the fact you can NEVER return an item bought, the corruption, the violence, the lack of any sense of “customer service”, I’ll be right there with you.
But here in Mexico we know how to do water.
Each and ever time I go to the US, regardless of where I drink the water, I get sick. But it isn’t the water.
If you didn’t get sick until Thursday, I would assume it had nothing to do with anything you consumed on the course, but more likely that your immune system was in shambles after the race and ready to be invaded by any type of bug. International airports are full of all kinds of germs that your body hasn’t seen before. Despite having 2 kids in school and living on an island in Florida that is inundated with tourists each year, I rarely get sick. However I always seem to get sick after Ironman. I was sick after Canada this year, and in fact I have a head cold right now - sore throat, stuffy nose, cough - my ears clogged up on the plane on the way home from Cozumel and my left ear has yet to come back.
Congratulations on an awesome race!
But here in Mexico we know how to do water.
http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A520868
Each and ever time I go to the US, regardless of where I drink the water, I get sick. But it isn’t the water.
Don’t mean to belabor the point or appear argumentative, but . . . . . . it could be that you’ve developed a tolerance to the water in Mexico and when you travel to the U.S. you are somewhat unprotected from our peculiar organisms?
By the way,
I hope the barracuda gives you a break.
But here in Mexico we know how to do water.
http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A520868
Each and ever time I go to the US, regardless of where I drink the water, I get sick. But it isn’t the water.
Don’t mean to belabor the point or appear argumentative, but . . . . . . it could be that you’ve developed a tolerance to the water in Mexico and when you travel to the U.S. you are somewhat unprotected from our peculiar organisms?
By the way,
I hope the barracuda gives you a break.
Exactly my point. It isn’t the water in the US is bad, I’m just not used to it. That’s why I get sick. But down here the course water was agua purificada and I find it hard to believe it was bad. This is the same water the bottling plants use to carbonate their beverages (Pepsi and Coke) and if that water was bad there would be exploding cans all over the island. Additionally I am used to the water and had a bad stomach on laps 1 and 2 of the bike. When I stopped eating powerbars and their gels (I had one of each) and switched back to my GUs and course gatorade, my stomach got better.
I lived almost entirely off the course during IMCoz, and I didn’t get sick. I had water from the bottles on the bike, Gatorade on the bike, water from the bags on the run, bananas on the run, and Pepsi on the run. No problems.
I saw people in our hotel eating completely indiscriminately during the week. I was kinda stunned by it, actually. Not only were people throwing caution to the wind with regards to water and things that were washed (like lettuce and pico de gallo), but I watched athletes eat chips, fried tacos, and pork chimichangas in the three or four days leading up to the race. I think that folks eating like they were on vacation are the ones who got sick, but it wasn’t Mexico’s fault.
there’s little chance that you got sick from the actual race (your body is pretty efficient at getting rid of the bad stuff… and Sun to Thur is a long time…I can’t think, of anything you ingest that takes that long for your body to process… eat something and your body utilizes what it can and dumps the rest out in 24-48 hours if not less). What probably happened was your immune system was weakened after the race and you got sick because of it.
I ate (great) crap all week and felt fine. 10:33 . To be honest I never thought about it.
Cozumel is bloody paradise. I would go to that race twice a year if I could! What swim is better? Maybe Mallorca, though it’s a bit colder. And the people! Bless their pea-picken’ hearts they are super supportive.
Having said that, some people will have problems with water and food, but that might be true if they went to Vienna and wolfed down some Kaiserschmarrn and one of their strong coffees.
The only two complaints I have about the race are the water bottles given out during the bike leg (tap water), and the poor race timing and results reporting. Other than those issues, the race is one of the most fun races I’ve ever done.
-Robert
Cozumel is bloody paradise. I would go to that race twice a year if I could! What swim is better? Maybe Mallorca, though it’s a bit colder. And the people! Bless their pea-picken’ hearts they are super supportive.
Having said that, some people will have problems with water and food, but that might be true if they went to Vienna and wolfed down some Kaiserschmarrn and one of their strong coffees.
The only two complaints I have about the race are the water bottles given out during the bike leg (tap water), and the poor race timing and results reporting. Other than those issues, the race is one of the most fun races I’ve ever done.
-Robert
OMG you people are going to drive me INSANE! 
We did NOT drink tap water on the bike. For one thing there is NO running water for more than 1/2 the bike course and secondly, I personally saw all the garrafones of purified water the day before the event already stacked and ready for use at each of the bike stations.Third, we KNOW NOT to use tap water here. My water personally comes from a cenote and I will wash and brush with it but even though I live here I STILL don’t drink it. I did not personally fill each and every bottle but I can pretty much guarantee that none of the water was tap water. Not only do we know the tourists have sensitive stomachs but also we know our infrastructure doesn’t support clean water (even though Cozumel does treat its water).
OMG you people are going to drive me INSANE! We did NOT drink tap water on the bike. For one thing there is NO running water for more than 1/2 the bike course and secondly, I personally saw all the garrafones of purified water the day before the event already stacked and ready for use at each of the bike stations.Third, we KNOW NOT to use tap water here. My water personally comes from a cenote and I will wash and brush with it but even though I live here I STILL don’t drink it. I did not personally fill each and every bottle but I can pretty much guarantee that none of the water was tap water. Not only do we know the tourists have sensitive stomachs but also we know our infrastructure doesn’t support clean water (even though Cozumel does treat its water).
Hey Kathy, mexican living in Miami here who did the race and vomited trough out the marathon to end up with a very bad time.
I agree with you on the garrafones de ague purificada, saw them on my training ride on saturday. But, don’t you think the ice, or the reusable and reused bottles they handed out on the bike course or the plastic bags where we drank water from on the run, or the dirty hands that were handing them out might have something to do with it??
I enjoyed the event, would do it anytime I wasn’t able to get into another end of year IM!!
What about all the refilled water bottles? And who provided the “purified” aqua? I’d love to have seen the test certificates for that water… Purified water in NJ means you don’t have Standard Oil barrels in it…
I didn’t get sick from the water by the way. At least not this time. It only took once for me to get sick from Mexican water (Playa Blanca) and I was cured, apparently. 
Lots of people were throwing up on this year’s run course. Many more than last year. So, something went awry in the planning and/or implementation processes.
-Robert
Man I pounded those water bottles and chewed the ice!
No problems here.
Man I pounded those water bottles and chewed the ice!
No problems here.
Thank you! Same here however, I did reuse the same bottle. I saw the water truck on the course delivering water to several aid station.
OMG you people are going to drive me INSANE! We did NOT drink tap water on the bike. For one thing there is NO running water for more than 1/2 the bike course and secondly, I personally saw all the garrafones of purified water the day before the event already stacked and ready for use at each of the bike stations.Third, we KNOW NOT to use tap water here. My water personally comes from a cenote and I will wash and brush with it but even though I live here I STILL don’t drink it. I did not personally fill each and every bottle but I can pretty much guarantee that none of the water was tap water. Not only do we know the tourists have sensitive stomachs but also we know our infrastructure doesn’t support clean water (even though Cozumel does treat its water).
Hey Kathy, mexican living in Miami here who did the race and vomited trough out the marathon to end up with a very bad time.
I agree with you on the garrafones de ague purificada, saw them on my training ride on saturday. But, don’t you think the ice, or the reusable and reused bottles they handed out on the bike course or the plastic bags where we drank water from on the run, or the dirty hands that were handing them out might have something to do with it??
I enjoyed the event, would do it anytime I wasn’t able to get into another end of year IM!!
Oh, I don’t doubt that there could have been contamination issues but people kept asserting over and over that tap water was used and not only would that have been impossible on more than 1/2 of the course, but it Just Isn’t Done and everyone knows you Just Do Not Give Tourists Tap Water. Or ice. So, yeah, contamination definitely possible, you would have that on any course really, not just those in Mexico (for example see the LV R&R marathon debacle). As for plastic bags, I once ran a 10K here where we got water in obviously handmade knotted plastic bags but the bags on course are standard here. All running races have them and most triatlons. We usually get poweraid in the same plastic tubes. It all,again, comes from the Electropura and Crystal plants.
What about all the refilled water bottles? And who provided the “purified” aqua? I’d love to have seen the test certificates for that water… Purified water in NJ means you don’t have Standard Oil barrels in it…
-Robert
the purified water was supplied by the same companies making Coke and Pepsi. It is the same water they use in their beverages, so if the water was bad you’d have exploding cans of soda all over the island. Just doesn’t happen here. Our water is actually so purified it is dead and unless you add electrolyes in the summer you are in danger of mock “heart attacks” from the lack of minerals.
Again, I’m not saying impossible, just very improbable AND explaining that tap water is almost impossible to blame.
When in Cancun I was told not to drink the coke because of that reason. So I drank the bottled water :0) no problems with the iron stomach of course the cuervo was good too :0)