Few days ago many talked about the recent Energizer Night Run that ended in chaos as nothing went according to plan. A fellow blogger rants http://roundsquaretable.blogspot.com/2011/04/extremely-nightmarish-run-fka-as.html.
No, it's not Energizer's fault. Yes, it is Energizer's fault. Frankly who cares. The damage has been done, and we're all just glad nobody got hurt. Would someone get hurt running in circles around an F1 track for 3 hours? Why not. Outsiders look at Marathon runners like they're a bunch of idiots running on straight lines for hours on end, and for what? They don't understand that for every 42km a runner braves, he/she will need to breach The Wall at least 2-3 times. This Wall is a moment when your mind tells your body you have reached limit, that going on is a practical impossibility. When the runner breaches the limit he/she would have gotten mentally stronger. Most of the time one's body can take a lot more than the mind tells them it can. Problem is whenever a runner (athlete) breaches The Wall he/she will run the risk of reaching the actual physical limit. When the actual limit is reached, the runner's body will shut down. So each time the runner decides to breach his (her) mental limit, he trusts his life to the organisers of the events that he will be in good hands should he drop unconscious by the road.
I have seen days when adventure racers die crashing onto boulders and dropping into pits. They were caused by a series of events that began from one common source: The Organisers. The organisers under pay and over work their staff, hire inexperience ones because they're cheaper. Hang them on technical sections for 9 hours without the possibility for them to even go for toilet break, which means they would not dare to drink anything. Hook them up to 300 odd racers and make sure they're safe before hauling them down a 100 meter quarry cliff.
The staff had less than 8 hours of sleep, no breakfast, no water, standing under the hot sun from 7am to 4pm. How can he not screw up? I know. I was there. This was what happened.
Then we have tragic stories like this one.
Who would have thought running in the middle of the city could pose so much threat? What is the possibility that a runner can collapse in the middle of a race track and did not receive treatment? What were the paramedics doing? Were there even trained paramedics in the field, or were they Bulan Sabit Merah kids from highschools? What caused the organisers to think for one moment that marathon running was a walk in the park?
Race organisers nowadays are cocky and lack passion. They think just because they walked out of some foreign university holding a Degree or Masters, they can organise any 'Simple Marathon Race'. They think they can make some quick buck by stinge-ing with things here and there. May I provide you with an idea: run a race before learning how to organise one. Don't blame the sponsors for not providing enough budget. It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of all athletes, because they put their lives in your hands.
Do you know that when you have 10'000 athletes participating in your event, you hold their lives in your, hopefully, capable hands? Or is it all Just Business?
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