athletes with dreads?

i've been wanting to do dreads for a long time now (almost a year). my hair would actually be fairly easy to dread, and everyone i know says i'd look awesome with them. only problem is that i'm a distance runner. now for those of you who've never been around runners, running makes the runner gross and sweaty and sometimes stinky. i generally shower/wash my hair every other day, but worry that if i dreaded my hair that it would get indescribably gross and stinky. i know dreads can and even should be washed regularly, but they might not get sufficiently clean to not stink. does anyone else know anything about this, or are there any athletes with dreads out there willing to give input? thanks!

 

I know that if you're getting them wet daily, they won't have enough time to dry out and they can start to mildew, but you probably want someones opinion who's actually had dreads. Sounds way too troublesome and high maintanence IMO. I'd just stick with regular hair if you're a runner.

 

I know a couple people who HAVE to wash their locks everyday due to having jobs that are pretty messy (with sawdust, sweat, using heavy equipment etc.).

What they've said is that if washing everyday is a must, they really recommend using a "bonnet dryer" to make sure all their locks are completely dried, through-and-through. Washing everyday seems to promote tighter locks for a lot of people..... and using the dryer would eliminate the possibility of mold and smelly dreads.

You can pick up the bonnet dryers at Sally's Beauty Supply, or other beauty supply stores, and they arent unreasonably priced if you just look around. I personally think the use of a bonnet dryer would be good for anyone with locks, since they'd dry much quicker, as oppossed to taking hours to dry!

 

I went to highschool with a guy who had dreads, and he played just about every sport that you could think of. His dreads were really nice, and they never smelled at all. His were also a bit thinner than anyone elses I've ever seen, so he had much more of them. I'm not sure if that would help the drying process or not. I've also heard that they have an emergency removal kit at knotty boy that doesn't require you to cut off your hair. If its something that you've been wanting for a long time I think you should go for it. Hair always grows back, you really have nothing to lose. <3 Good luck