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Run It Straight league holding a $200k competition despite health warnings
A Run It Straight competition is going ahead despite warnings from health bodies about the dangers of the sport.
The Runit Championship League will award $200,000 to the winner of its RUNIT02 competition.
In the sport, a runner and a tackler run at each other at top speed on a 'battlefield' that is 20m x 4m in dimensions. The loser is the one who is knocked out.
The death of a New Zealand teenager last month shone a spotlight on the dangerous activity.
Ryan Satterthwaite, 19, was rushed to hospital with serious head injuries and died on May 26 after playing the 'combat sport'.
Police Manawatu area commander Inspector Ross Grantham said Satterthwaite, from Palmerston North on New Zealand's North Island, took part in an impromptu version of the game and his death is an 'absolute tragedy'.
In response to Satterthwaite's death, Runit Championship League said the sport 'should only be held in highly controlled environments, which include professional medical supervision and support'.
'All RUNIT events follow established protocols including screening of participants for suitability, strict guidelines around where and how to tackle (between the shoulders and hips only), with qualified medical support and medical assessments conducted both during and after competition.
'We do not encourage any copying of the sport as it should only be done under the strict conditions outlined above in sanctioned RUNIT events.'
'Beer and head injuries don't mix'
In May, two men were knocked unconscious and required medical attention during a game.
Both men were knocked out, and one appeared to have a seizure, as they competed for an $18,500 cash prize.
A leading concussion expert last month urged NRL fans to stop this activity after vision surfaced of a crowd engaging in Run It Straight at a Manly Sea Eagles game.
Security reportedly stepped in when fans ran at each other on the hill at Brookvale Oval late in Manly's win over Brisbane on May 31.
Sea Eagles chief executive Tony Mestrov said anyone found to have been involved will be banned.
Dr Alan Pearce, who has worked with NRL players on concussions, said he is 'still speechless'.
'I'm pretty appalled by what we're seeing and I'm really concerned about the health of the people undertaking this activity,' he told Sunrise.
'There's no medical attention nearby if something happened.'
Pearce said it was made worse by the apparent levels of intoxication.
'Beer and head injuries do not mix,' he said.
'This is what we're seeing now and this is something we've been concerned about surrounding the Run It events.
'Things like this will be happening everywhere now and they're not checked properly. That's the concern.'
Do not try Run It at home
While some of those filmed participating at the NRL game appeared to be grown men, Pearce said he fears for kids and even young adults involved in the trend.
'The damage to a young brain is potentially profound and catastrophic,' he said.
'With young people, kids up to the age of 20, there's a risk of what we call 'second impact syndrome'.
'Even though you might get a hit to the head and not necessarily think that there's anything going on, having a second hit to the head in a rapid time period after — it might be a few minutes, it could be 15 minutes — could be potentially life-threatening.
'This is something we are really worried about.'
Other experts have also slammed the trend.
Injury prevention expert Professor Patria Hume called the trend a 'reckless and dangerous spectacle' and 'a step backwards' in sport safety.
'We've spent years building evidence-based strategies to reduce head and neck injuries in rugby and contact sports,' she said.
'This event ignores all of that.'
Following Satterthwaite's death, top sports neuroscientist Dr Alan Pearce said the loss of life was sadly inevitable.
'This was a matter of time, really, as sad as that is to say,' Pearce told News Corp.
'The concern is that this can happen at any level. Even in the sanctioned Run It events, someone will probably die in that at some point as well.
'It can't be done safely and when there's kids and teens that see it, they like to copy what they see online, and this is something that absolutely not should be copied.
'It is the biggest 'please do not try this at home' disclaimer, if I've ever seen one'.
