![\"***](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_314848247-6a7a-e1790865502379.jpg\")
\n\t\t\u2018College ruined me\u2019, Tiffani says (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\u2018College ruined me\u2019, Tiffani says (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n
\u2018Yo, come get me. There is poo coming down my leg\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a call 20-year-old Tiffani Koonce has made to her boyfriend Cayde de Waal many times over the past year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A student athlete, Tiffani jogs almost every day, and almost once a week, she will experience the runs during one of those runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018It first happened when I was 17 and I was at high school doing cross country. I don\u2019t really remember the moment, just that I told my coach: \u201csomething\u2019s happened, I gotta go.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
Tiffani thought it was a one-off but after starting college a year later, bowel incontinence became a regular occurrence. \u2018College ruined me\u2019, she tells Metro from her dorm room in Illinois.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t![\"***](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_314848189-e54e.jpg\")
\n\t\tTiffani has phoned Cayde asking to be picked up more than once (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n
\u2018When I feel it coming, I hold it for as long as I can while I see if there are any nearby toilets, but I just get to a point where I can\u2019t anymore\u2019, Tiffani admits. It\u2019s not diarrhoea that Tiffani experiences, more the inability to control when a movement comes out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the past three years she has had many mid-run hunts for port-a-loos, has adopted a squat on a roadside more than once, and has even had to walk a mile back to the house\u00a0in soiled underwear, trying to avoid other people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Tiffani considers this habit an \u2018inconvenience\u2019, she refuses to feel embarrassed. In fact, she\u2019s posted some of her \u2018accidents\u2019 on social media<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m kind of an oversharer\u2019, she admits. This may explain why, the first time Cayde picked her up, she decided to record and post it to TikTok.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tAsk Metro<\/p>\n Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about \u2013 powered by Metro and trusted publications.<\/p>\n \u2018He turned up with a roll of toilet paper. It was far too late for that and I found it really funny. When I got in the car he was holding his nose and had the windows rolled down.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n That video blew up, and when she posted another to TikTok this summer<\/a> \u2013 this time with Cayde offering a towel \u2013 it was the same, with 1.7million views and nearly 2,000 comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t Among the \u2018another reason not to run\u2019 and \u2018are you selling the shorts?\u2019 comments, there were people trying to make Tiffani feel embarrassed about it.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018But it\u2019s not something I can control,\u2019 she explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n They suggested that the athlete tries going to the loo before (she does), or not eating before she runs (\u2018I need the energy\u2019), but Tiffani has heard it all. \u2018I try to explain to the best of my ability that this is just what my body does and they just don\u2019t get it\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Tiffani\u2019s doctor \u2018sometimes this just happens to runners\u2019 and, after checking Tiffani over, her doctor is not concerned. Neither is Tiffani, especially as she finds this only happens to her during the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Bowel incontinence is a more common problem than people realise \u2013 but anyone experiencing it shouldn\u2019t pass it off as something that just happens without being examined,\u2019 says Lucy Allen, Consultant Digestive & Pelvic Health Physiotherapist<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018There isn\u2019t one single cause; it\u2019s more typically a combination of physiological, psychological, mechanical and nutritional,\u2019 Allen explains. \u2018From a physiological perspective: during intense exercise, blood flow is directed away from the gut and stress hormones can impact the digestive system, speeding it up.<\/p>\n \u2018In Tiffani\u2019s case, heat could exacerbate symptoms if it\u2019s a particularly hot environment due to redirection of blood flow and this impact on gut function.\u2019<\/p>\n Following Joanna Wietrzyk\u2019s Hyrox win<\/a>, where the athlete continued to compete after soiling herself, bowel incontinence during sport has been discussed more openly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t While Allen wouldn\u2019t be able to give a verdict on Tiffani or Joanna\u2019s cases without meeting them, she says that there are various reasons why this could happen. <\/p>\n \u2018Mechanically, if an athlete has an underlying muscle dysfunction within the pelvic floor or anal sphincters \u2013 either weakness, or inability to fully relax \u2013 it would impact their ability to control stool when exercising. If the stool is looser, this places a greater strain on the mechanics.<\/p>\n \u2018Nutritionally if an athlete hasn\u2019t eaten the best foods prior to competing then it can cause gastrointestinal upset.\u2019 <\/p>\n This latter cause was posited by Paula Radcliffe, who apologised to the nation after relieving herself on the side of the London<\/a> Marathon in 2005 and later said it was likely due to too much gluten-free pasta and grilled salmon the night before.<\/p>\n Another cause is that of the physical jostling of the organs brought about by running; and that this movement, combined with the reduced blood flow described by Allen, can cause food to move through the bowel faster than normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t Tiffani is thankful that she has never had a race interrupted by a \u2018movement\u2019 but says that, unless she was metres away from the finish line and going to get a personal best, she wouldn\u2019t continue.\u00a0<\/p>\n But she knows how common this issue is among athletes. While none of her peers have experienced it, to her knowledge, the comments of her TikTok were flooded with people who had had similar struggles.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Allen, bowel incontinence impacts around 5-10% of people in the UK alone but says it is a poorly studied area in athletes. She emphasises that \u2018we can\u2019t directly compare Paula Radcliffe with Joanna Wietrzyk, for example, as they were participating in very different activities, in different environments.\u2019 Still, she acknowledges that \u2018bowel incontinence when running is more common in endurance athletes\u2019 and for women, factors like childbirth and hormones will play a role.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Tiffani, the main struggle isn\u2019t actually soiling herself: It\u2019s the clean up and what comes next.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Where I can, I try to salvage my shorts, hosing them down before putting them in the machine. Then I have to wash myself. Then I have to go back out to finish my run\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t As a college athlete, Tiffani has a strict training schedule, meaning she can\u2019t just be done because her body wants her to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I have to run 55 miles every week, poo or no poo.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018On Mondays, I run. Tuesdays I do a running workout, followed by weights. Wednesdays involve a run in the morning and the afternoon. I recover on Thursday because Friday means a hard workout with weights. Saturday is a shorter run before 10-11 miles on Sunday.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n The only solution she has found to her problem is to run with her phone so she can call for help. The first time it happened, her then-boyfriend\u2019s mum picked her up; nowadays, it\u2019s Cayde.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tGetting help\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u2018No bowel incontinence is normal,\u2019 says Allen. She recommends getting checked over if you have any of the below symptoms, so doctors can rule out any underlying bowel or muscular issues. <\/p>\n Regular incontinence \u2018Everyone\u2019s always been nice when it happens\u2019, Tiffani says. She has learnt to be upfront about it. On a recent trip to South Africa<\/a> to meet Cayde\u2019s family for the first time, she went out for a training run and had to waddle back after experiencing the familiar sensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018They knew that this sometimes happens to me and so waited patiently for me to get cleaned up before we headed out for our planned sunset photoshoot\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Tiffani doesn\u2019t plan to continue her running career after university, it\u2019s not because of her bowels. In fact, she sees herself becoming a \u2018hobby jogger\u2019, accompanying Cayde on his daily runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, Tiffani is welcoming the onset of winter, a period where her accidental poos calm down.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"***](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_314848199-4f59-e1790866587504.jpg\")
\n\t\tAccording to Tiffani\u2019s doctor \u2018sometimes this just happens to runners\u2019 (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n![\"***](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_314848246-db04-e1790866000303.jpg\")
\n\t\tTiffani is thankful that she has never had a race interrupted by a \u2018movement\u2019 (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n![\"BEIJING,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_312402376-7b2b.jpg\")
\n\t\tJoanna Wietrzyk faced significant backlash after continuing to compete (Picture: VCG\/VCG via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"***](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_314848195-3ee4-e1790866125589.jpg\")
\n\t\tAccording to Allen, bowel incontinence impacts around 5-10% of people in the UK alone (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n![\"***](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_314848244-9fdd.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe only solution she has found to her problem is to run with her phone so she can call for help (Picture: Tiffani Koonce)<\/p>\n
\nBleeding either on the stool, in the toilet or on wiping
\nChange in bowel habit for more than 3 weeks
\nAbdominal pain
\nPersistent bloating
\nFeeling of incomplete bowel emptying or pressure in the bottom
\nUnexplained weight loss
\nAny neurological symptoms<\/p>\n
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