Sheffield half-marathon

The Sheffield half-marathon was a victory for common sense which seems to be totally lacking in today's world of Public Relations dominated activity. On the 10th of April the race was due to be run in Sheffield Yorkshire in the UK.  The race was cancelled the very last minute because water supplies for the runners failed to be delivered. The organisers thought it would be better to cancel the race for "health and safety reasons".

The runners themselves decided something different and chose to run despite the best efforts of the organisers to stop them. The police initially decided to unblock the route to motor traffic but changed their mind and allowed the unofficial race to go ahead as originally intended.

Water was supplied to the competitors who need it by spectators along the route.

The sports organisers were described as "risk averse" by a former sports' minister and I agree totally. Every sport has risks attached. Most of the 4,000 or so runners knew what those risks were and decided accordingly.

I am in my sixties and regularly run 10 to 12 k without having to drink any water whatsoever or take glucose tablets. I can run 10 k on a hot summer day and drink my fill after running. If I attempted to run 20 k, then I would probably need to drink some water along the way so I would take supplies with me. I often train on my own and there is a risk that I could trip over and break my leg or even push it too far and get heart tremors.

Most of the competitors for the Sheffield half marathon would have been a lot younger and fitter than me.

I minimise the risk of a heart tremor by not running too fast for my age and pacing myself to run at a constant and comfortable heart rate. I do not need a doctor to tell me what the risks are or how to minimise them. I cannot completely minimise the risk of tripping and breaking my leg but so be it.

If I had been there in Sheffield, I would have made sure that I had trained adequately for the event and would have ran the unofficial race along with the others. I would have stopped or slowed down if I needed to drink and no one from the onlookers had a bottle to give me. It would have been applied commonsense.

The unofficial race has now been run and the residents of Sheffield do not have to put up with the inconvenience of having their roads blocked again for a re-run.

The water suppliers claim that they had a contract where the organisers were obliged to pay for the water before the race was run but no funds were forthcoming. But, the best sort of PR for the water company would have been to supply the water and ask for the cash later. If ,all this is true, then someone has got it badly wrong and no amount of PR waffle will get those responsible of the hook.

At least both the police and the competitors knew how to do the right thing - it is just a small victory for common sense.


http://www.sheffieldmarathon.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-26938226
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26923501

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/call-to-change-sheffield-half-marathon-organisers-1-6555425