The (taco) bell tolls for these gluttons for punishment.
Distance runners with a taste for greasy Tex-Mex fare and frequent trips to the loo hit the road Saturday in Denver for the latest trendy test of endurance - the International Taco Bell 50K Ultramarathon.
The race, which is not affiliated with the fast-food chain, celebrated its eighth year of challenging runners with not only a 50-kilometre traipse around Colorado's capital and most populous city, but a test of gastric fortitude.
Dubbed as being "more mysterious" than the infamous Barkley Marathons and boasting a higher-did-not-finish rate than the gruelling Leadville 100 Trail Race through the Rockies, contestants are required to make a stop at 10 Taco Bell restaurants along the course and eat from at least nine of them.
Oh, but there is more.
Drinks do not count and runners must also devour a Chalupa Supreme or Crunchwrap Supreme by stop 4 and then a Burrito Supreme or Nachos Bell Grande by stop 8.
Do not even think about using Pepto Bismol - that is forbidden, along with antacids or similar products - and make sure to cross the finish line in under 11 hours to be considered a "survivour," which is their term for a finisher.
Did we mention people are eating the challenge up like a Caramel Apple Empanada?
"I like the little bit of nonseriousness, the goofiness to it," software engineer Nathan Giusti, 38, told the New York Post. "And as a former fat kid, I'm great at eating. So I really feel like this is conjoining two of my really great skill sets."
Inspiration for the race, the New York Post reported, was sparked when one of the founders stopped at a Taco Bell bathroom while training for his first ultramarathon with a friend and they had the "delusional thought" of dining and dashing to fuel their run.
The rules were also inspired by other races that have gained viral fame - including the Barkley Marathons, an annual 160-kilometre trek through the Tennessee wilderness that requires competitors to memorize the directions beforehand and remove a certain page from up to 15 books stashed along the course.
The first Taco Bell 50K started small with only seven competitors and five "survivors" in 2018. This year, however, 1,200 people applied after hundreds took part in 2024, the New York Post reported.
"The origin is just that it was a spur of the moment, 'What if we do this?' and then naturally it snowballed into, 'We have to do this,'" founder Dan Zolnikov said. "And now it's turned into this tsunami and force of nature."
If the distance and "real threat" of vomiting and diarrhea are not enough of a challenge, there are two optional feats to conquer, as well.
The "Diablo Challenge," the New York Post reported, requires participants to spice up their orders with the restaurant's hottest sauce and take a piquante "shooter" at the finish line. The "Baja Blast Challenge," meanwhile, dares the truest of sickos to chug two litres of soda during the race without blasting it back up.
Plus, there is the threat of hallucinations.
"Once you get past that marathon distance, it's not your body that starts shutting down, it's your brain," Giusti told the New York Post. "I think people underestimate how much of it is mental."