Participants in 2023 Sonoma Raceway Tough Mudder sue over illnesses, rashes

Dozens of people who took part at a Tough Mudder event at Sonoma Raceway last year are suing organizers, saying they were infected with a dangerous bacteria while participating.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims participants in the August 2023 event broke out in rashes or got sick following the race.

Evan Goldsmith, who said he has participated in dozens of Tough Mudder events, is among those who joined the suit.

"The rash was really unsightly and itchy and gross but you know it felt like I had a terrible migraine and a fever with it," Goldsmith told CBS News Bay Area on Wednesday.

"It was really frustrating that there was an email thread with a bunch of people who had gotten ill and the CEO. And the CEO kept promising once the investigation is complete we will let you know what it is that happened and what were gonna do to fix it and then we just never heard back," he went on to say.

The lawsuit claims event organizers used untreated water on the course, which contained a bacteria called aeromonos. Dozens of children and adults said they became ill, some with fevers, headaches, and vomiting, along with rashes.

"They went and they got that water, they threw it and hosed it throughout their course in the mud," attorney Elan Zekster, who is representing the plaintiffs, told CBS News Bay Area. "And then, if you didn't happen to get sick in the water from the mud, they threw it in the shower so when you were washing off the bacteria filled mud, you got it there."

Zekster said none of his clients, several of whom had to go to the doctor or the hospital, received refunds.

CBS News Bay Area reached out to Tough Mudder and Sonoma County Health but have not heard back as of Wednesday night.