Some 230 of the 380 runners who competed in a cross-country meet in October sponsored by Connecticut College are suffering from a mysterious rash.

The skin ailment may be a result of running through about three feet of standing water on the course, at Harkness Memorial State Park. According to a report in The Day, a local newspaper, health officials are investigating and believe the rash may have been caused by a water-borne parasite that penetrates the skin.

Some of the runners afflicted with the rash have started a group on the Facebook Web site called “Victims of the NESCAC Rash,” named for the New England Small College Athletic Conference, whose members competed in the meet. Some even posted photographs of the red, itchy bumps.