For some of us, a grueling race through muddy obstacles sounds like punishment enough (and a pretty good reason to stay at home on the couch instead). But what if that race came with another "muddy" problem afterwards?

On June 20, Mud Day -- a competition in Levens, France similar to the popular Tough Mudder Mud Run -- ended with one hell of a consolation prize when over 1,000 participants went home with diarrhea after completing the race. Why the outbreak? Well, it turns out that mud wasn't just dirt, if you catch our drift.

Are you ready? You might wanna sit down for this, because it's gross.

Tons of cases of norovirus, a contagious virus that causes lovely symptoms like fever, vomiting and diarrhea, broke out post-race -- too many cases for it to be coincidence. Health officials began investigating what could have been in the mud to cause such widespread illness.

The investigation is still underway, but norovirus is often brought on by animal fecal bacteria. Authorities believe that the mud, which some participants said smelled of horse manure on the event's Facebook page, was potentially mixed with feces. Ew ew ewwww.

On top of that, this isn't the first time a race's mud has had a special ingredient or two thrown in. Last year, The Washington Post reported that a similar nasty occurrence took place in 2012 after race participants unknowingly swallowed animal feces during the competition.

While we've had our doubts about extreme races and obstacle courses for a while now, this latest story confirms it: it's just way safer to stay home with Netflix.