Runner literally has a hair-raising experience at Toronto Marathon
You may think you’re having a bad hair day, but it’s probably nothing compared to what runner Abbie Jack went through following the Toronto Marathon earlier this month – she ended up needed professional help and not an inconsiderable amount of shearing.
The Toronto Marathon on May 5 was only Jack’s second full marathon, and the heavy rain on the day had an unexpected side effect.
Jack, 27, had tried her hair up in a ponytail and at first everything seemed fine. But by the 30km point she began to notice that her hair was feeling very different.
“[It] started feeling very heavy, like I had a carpet attached to my head,” Jack told People.
Because she was determined to qualify for the Boston Marathon by finishing in under three hours and 30 minutes, she decided not to stop and check what was going on with her hair. So she carried on, and it wasn’t until she reached the finish line that she realized quite what a nightmare she was now carrying on top of ger head.
“Oh, this will be hard to take out,” she remembers thinking, but she, “didn’t anticipate that it would be that hard…
“I have super fine hair so it gets knotty easily. I’ve run in the rain before and had my hair get super knotty before, but looking back that was nothing compared to this! I usually can get it out with a lot of conditioner.”
Instead she was now rocking a full-on electric shock fright wig vibe. And no amount of hair product would calm it down. She broke her brush and even calling in her fiancé to help didn’t solve the problem. Even posting to TikTok to seek advice reaped no rewards, despite clocking up over 3.6 million views.
“I tried mayo, as recommended on TikTok, olive oil and other deep hair treatments,” she says. “Nothing worked.”
Finally, a hairdresser came to her rescue, though it took her over three hours to untangle the mess and some hair had to be sacrificed. But the experience hasn’t put her off running.
“Don’t be discouraged to run just because it does crazy things to your hair! Running is amazing! Maybe wear a bun if you have hair texture like me!”
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