Ryan Bridge: Is Run It Straight really that dangerous?

The moral outrage over Run It Straight competitions is a tricky one. 

As more and more young men ran at each other head-on and tried to knock each other out, as the injuries piled up, the outrage was palpable. Lots of pearl clutching and horror. 

The reaction from some rugby stars and sporting legends was more nuanced, for obvious reasons. 

They also run full steam ahead at one another on a Saturday, with great risk of personal injury and even death. Certainly, the chance of broken bones and concussion. 

They do this because A. They enjoy it. B. It's often all they've ever known. And C. Presumably, because it pays well. 

And that's the problem with the outrage over Run It Straight. 

They had a guy in the news yesterday who won $20 thousand in trials held in Auckland. He's booked a spot in a final in Dubai. The money, he says, is putting clothes on his kids backs. 

He said this:

"We got to pay off some debts and stock up the fridges and the cupboards, food for our little ones, especially with the economy and stuff like that here in New Zealand. Nothing's cheap these days."

He saw it as a couple of hours work with a huge payday. 

I happen to think if somebody wants to play a high-risk sport like rugby, or UFC, or anything with horses, then good on them. It's their life, I'm not here to judge. 

The question for the rest of society —and this is what our listeners most often email me about with Run It Straight— is ACC. 

To qualify for ACC, your injury has to be the result of an accident. An accident is basically something you didn't intend to happen, happening. A mistake. 

Run It Straight is bloody dangerous but I think ultimately, its injuries are accidents, like rugby or horse riding. 

The system doesn't judge based on the threat of injury, just whether it's an accidental one or not. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The moral outrage over run it straight competitions is a
tricky one, isn't it. More and more young men and
then more of them that run at each other head
on and try to knock each other out. As the
injuries piled up, the hand ringing well cranked into gear,
and lots of pearl clutching, lots of horror, lots that
I'm aghast. The reaction from some rugby stars and sporting

(00:23):
legends was a bit more nuanced, for obvious reasons, because
they also run full steam ahead at one another of
a Saturday, with great risk of personal injury and even death,
certainly the chance of broken bones and a concussion on
a rugby field. They do this because A they enjoy it.
B It's often all they've ever known, and c presumably

(00:44):
because it pays well, and that's the problem of the
outrage over run it straight. They had a guy in
the news yesterday who won twenty thousand dollars in trials
held in Auckland. He's now booked on a spot in
a final in Dubai. The money, he says, these are
his words, putting clothes on his kid's back. He said this,

(01:05):
We got to pay off some debts, stock up the
fridges and the cupboards food for our little ones. Especially
with the economy of the way it is in New Zealand,
nothing's cheap these days. He saw this as a couple
of hours work with a huge payday, And I happen
to think if somebody wants to play a high risk
sport like rugby or UFC or anything on horses, then

(01:27):
good on them to their life. I'm not here to
judge the question for the rest of society, and this
is what our listeners most often email me about when
it comes to run it Straight is acc To qualify
for acc your injury must be the result of an accident.
An accident is basically something you didn't intend to happen,

(01:49):
happening a mistake. Run it Straight is bloody dangerous, but
I think ultimately its injuries are accidents like rugby, like
horse riding. The system doesn't judge based on the threat
of injury, just whether it's an accidental one or not.

(02:14):
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