Nothing in life is straightforward, however straight you run. The concept of freedom and personal choice should be the exception, but there is always a line where it isn’t anymore.

If I bought a Ferrari and decided to drive it straight into a tree, that’s freedom of choice right? And it’s also freedom of choice if I decide to call that motor sport, right?

Well, no. The freedom to choose is just one side of a coin. Because that freedom exists with corresponding responsibilities and expectations. For actions have consequences.

While I indeed might be free – especially on private property – to drive that Ferrari into a tree, it’s society that would be left to literally pick up the pieces of what would remain of me.

It’s within this context that one must assess the social media juggernaut that is Run It Straight.

Is “running it” a sport? Hardly, if skill and technique count for anything. The lineage of the activity seems to be the marriage of tackle bullrush* and jousting without lances. (*For those under 40, bullrush was a simple game played across every playground in Sydney every day in the 1970-80s where you had to evade your opponents to make it to the other side of the playground.)

Andrew Alauni (black shirt) competes at a Run It Straight event.Credit: @Runitstraight24 / Instagram

The activity appears uncomplicated enough: two competitors stand 40 or so metres apart, facing one another; one person holds a football (though it’s unclear why); a green light flashes, and the opponents sprint at each other until they collide. Like crash-test dummies inside a Ferrari smashing into a tree.

The core objective seems to be geared around inflicting........

© Brisbane Times