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Cow parsnip, the curse of the trail
Runners and hikers battle blistering rashes caused by plant and sunlight
By Ann Potempa / Anchorage Daily News
Kjerstin Lastufka has received recognition for winning the Crow Pass Crossing, but she's also known for picking up one of the worst rashes along the way.
Runners who participate in the mid-July trail race from Girdwood to Eagle River likely will encounter all the hazards of Alaska's backcountry: bears, river crossings and a tall, stalky plant called cow parsnip.
Lastufka was born and raised in Alaska and knows the plant, even calls it by its Russian name, "pushki" (poosh-kee). Cow parsnip has hairy stalks that can grow almost 9 feet tall. When in bloom, the stalks are topped with umbrellas of white flowers.
"It's a beautiful plant, but boy do I hate it," Lastufka said.
And with good reason. It seems that every time she's exposed to it, she breaks out in a rash.
The source of the rash is a chemical called furanocoumarin, found in the sap and outer hairs of cow parsnip. The other necessary ingredient is sunlight.
"If the sun doesn't hit it, it doesn't react," said Dr. Michael Cusack, an Anchorage dermatologist.
Someone exposed to the chemical while in sunshine could develop a rash of blisters, redness or darkened pigmentation. Cusack said he once treated two boys who'd broken off stalks of cow parsnip for a make-believe sword fight on a sunny day.
"It was unbelievable," he said. "They were broken out all over their bodies."
During the 1992 Crow Pass Crossing, Lastufka ran the course in shorts and a jogging bra. A day or so later, her legs, stomach and arms were spattered with tiny bumps.
"After I run through it, my legs kind of look like a patchwork quilt," she said. "There's lines going this way and lines going that way." And it itches terribly.
She saw a doctor, who gave her pills. Those didn't work. Creams didn't work either.
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