Urbanathlon!

When I looked at this week's copy of the 'Athletics Weekly' I was flicking through the pages and saw the headline "Could street athletics be the future?" and thought that I had seen it before. And I had, street miles have been around for over thirty years (we used to put one on at the Luddon Half Marathon in the 70's and 80's) and the odd street dash (sprint) was held. Fancy a 100 metres challenge down Kilbowie Road past the La Scala? Good times guaranteed. Then there are the annual races in England up and down the same hill - the first time it is the Maniac Mile (downhill) where lots of sub 4 minutes's are recorded, then it's the Muder Mile where hardly anyone breaks 6 minutes. So far, so boring. Then I came to page 25 and what they call an advertorial. The English language is being roundly abused here but they have not finished.

The race in question is called an Urbanathlon. Over 5K the description is as follows:
From the starting gun at the 2002 Games track (Manchester) the competitors will race up and down the stairwells at the City of Manchester Stadium before taking on the natural rollerocaster that is sportcity's brand new BMX dirt track. Runners will then tackle 16 diverse obstacles over the distinctive 5K course, clambering across cars, over straw mountains and slithering down the 25 foot firemen's hose powered water slide. They'll run, wade and scramble to the finish line in nearby Phillips Park Sounds like a little bit fun, doesn't it? Well no, it doesn't! What kind of training is involved? Running up and down the high flats? Scrambling over cars? It would add a whole new dimension to Phil's Thursday night sessions!
They wonder why GB athletics is in such a dire state and then they encourage athletes to forsake serious training in favour of what hooligans have done over the years. So Usain Bolt raced a measured 150 on the road in Manchester for money. What does that signify? he trains on the track and on grass not on the road and he doesn't train for running on the road. It's a diversion which makes him money - I don't see it making money for the runners from Bearsden or Drumchapel. As for the urbanathlon - with UK athletics, specifically distance running, in such a dire condition (women marathon runners excepted) why is a serious athletics magazine promoting such tosh? How many ways can a man or woman get injured in the one race? And don't tell me that it isn't for the elite - why else is big money being offered? It's not for Joe Jogger that's for sure!