On Toenails and Toenail Neckaces…
Someone asked me: "Have you ever had a toenail turn black and/or fall off?"
Well, yes, actually I have, most recently after my Chicago 50m. It was my second toenail on the right. It actually doesn't hurt that much. I was even surprised to find it loose. However, this is never something that I am proud of. It most certainly is NOT something that I would ever take a photo of and then post.
Yuck! That's too disgusting even for me with a strong stomach!
However, there are many ultrarunners who are even more demented than I am. For confirmation, please see the St. Louis Post Dispatch Article that was published on March 5th, 2007: Ultra Runners: When a Marathon Just Isn't Enough showing Jan Ryerse wearing his infamous necklace. Apparently, he is looking for "donations."
For close-up photo of this necklace, open Scott Dunlap's Trail Runner blog at: Making-A-Toenail-Necklace .
I warn all of you- if you have a weak stomach- DO NOT open the close-up photo posted at Scott's blog!
ultrathon.wordpress.com 
Grins. I would never ever make a toenail necklace, but I'll admit, I was pleased to have the slightly bloody toe after my eight miler…even though I am sure it was from not tying the shoe properly…rather than huge miles.
I won't be looking at the necklace. Oddly, even though I am an emergency nurse, I tend to faint when anything involving finger or toenails comes in…
it makes me really queasy….
You'll note I didn't post up my toe either.
But I am still a little proud of it, I admit….
December 21, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Ok…I lose toenails all the time. I have hammer toe (second toe is the longest toe) so it is almost always black. I lose other nails from time to time and I'm ok with it, it comes with running marathons and ultra's but let me tell you there's something just not right with someone who makes a necklace out of the old toenails….I'm about as hard core as you can be..thats just weird.
December 21, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Yes, it is warped. I have also heard stories (don't know if they're true) of some ultrarunners voluntarily having all of their toenails removed so they won't have to deal with them any more. That's odd and hard core too- if those stories are true.
December 21, 2007 at 1:26 pm
This is good..Sick but good. 🙂 My family teases me because every summer my right middle toenail turns black. It's only fallen off once or twice but I have had to cut it off. In 2006, my marathon year, it turned black and did fall off early. Then it tried to grow back while black. The result was not pretty. I actually did post it on my blog at the time but I won't share here. That necklace is pretty sick. I am amazed at how good some of the toenails look. Mine are always black…
December 21, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I've seen that post of Scott's and yeah, it's pretty weird. Even though my second toe is longer than the rest, it's my pinky toes that occasionally turn black. I've never lost a toenail except for in middle school when I dropped the leaf of a table on my toe!
December 21, 2007 at 9:06 pm
wicked! no further comments on the necklace.
December 28, 2007 at 8:34 am