How did recreational sport get so extreme?

[Paul Frost]

From the BBC News Magazine, read the full article:

Marathon running has been booming for some time, triathlons have flourished recently and now people are flocking to gruelling assault courses. But how did recreational sport get so extreme?

It was once the case that a jog around the block was a respectable feat, but that's changed.

A half marathon, once the domain of the super fit, has now become rather tame. Today's barometer of fitness is becoming the triathlon and even this now has competition from Herculean assault courses that have competitors running through fire, mud and barbed wire.

But when did we become jaded with the usual forms of sport? When did recreational exercise become so extreme?

This has attracted 217 comments so far, within 10 hours of being published.

Orienteering is obviously not seen as extreme enough, as these extreme events and sports like Triathlon are booming whilst we are not. I don't have any answers, but knowing your competition and understanding why they are beating you is a start.

[Mrs H]

Ha ha ha those comments are classic. Old Beefcake really got some backs up with:

As a psychotherapist with many years experience i see this behaviour as certainly pathological, possibly obsessive, suggeting a poor underlying self esteem, with a tendency toward highly conditional self acceptance. These people devote huge amounts of time, energy and sometimes money attending to the maintenance of a very fragile ego.

I think he's probably right

[redkite]

Orienteering is TOO COMPLEX for most and will never be anything other than a minority sport.
Be it extreme or not is not really relevant.

[SeanC]

I agree, 99% of the UK's population could never become regular orienteers because it's too mentally and physically tough, or because they rely on someone else for a lift who isn't going to take them.

So that leaves just 600,000 people.

A 10K long white/string course with a bit of navigation and string / tape sections across some typical forest terrain sounds a bit like the "Brutal 10's". Then sell them a real challenge - a brown or black course, plus offer some coaching and before you know it there will be lots of new people beating us. People with this mindset learn quick I suspect.

It's free and easy to market these on Runners World but otherwise suspect we would struggle to complete on marketing (looking at the Brutal 10's swish website and branding) and on creating a pre/post race atmosphere.

[Mrs H]

Looking at the latest results the orienteers have been tearing up the Brutal 10 series lately. I wonder if any of the other contestants know they are orienteers.

If I was doing some marketing for BOF I think I would commission a squad of good orienteers (pay their entry and travel and provide them with some smart kit) to go to these events and whoop the assess of the other folk - and make sure everyone there knew they were primarily orienteers and where and when the next and nearest orienteering events were.

The same with all the other events like mountain marathons, fell races and adventure races etc. Half the time you look at the results and you know most of the top people are orienteers - but does anyone outside the sport know that?

[Red Adder]

A dichotomy seems to have developed in the 20 somethings between those who do ultra sports and those who do very little physical activity. It not just O that's experiencing this. For example when a hockey playing friend hung up his stick 7-8 years ago his club fielded 6 or even 7 teams each Saturday - now they struggle to fill 3.

[Paul Frost]

I wonder if it's connected to the rise of social media?
With everyone posting their latest status update or tweeting what they are up to, it may be that the bragging rights are more important.
It looks much more impressive to be able to say:

Just finished the "Notorious Night Run"

I Survived the "Hell on Earth 10k"

The alternatives:

Came 12th on the Brown course at the orienteering event at XYZ woods

I was 950th at the XYZ Half Marathon

Just a thought.

[Kitch]

Meanwhile Fell running, under the auspices of the FRA, is not at all interested in expanding participation. FRA believe the sport is quite popular enough, races are well attended, popular / classic races can be oversubscribed. If sensitive environments take a beating then there is a risk that access is withdrawn. The FRA reject any media advances to "feature" the sport in glossy self serving magazines.

Is orienteering in crisis ?
does it need more people ?
There are always plenty of events.
Are they making a loss ?
Are clubs folding ?
Are orienteering opportunities lacking ?

Or is it just about ego ?
wanting other people to go orienteering and realise that the thing we do is actually briliant ( and we must be brilliant for doing it).
Is it just craving recognition, validation ?

Same question to IOF and their Olympic folly.

Who needs it ?

[andy]

Meanwhile Fell running, under the auspices of the FRA, is not at all interested in expanding participation.

Carnethy 5 entries prove hill/fell races have no problem with participation! 500 entries filled within an hour of the event going live..

Is orienteering in crisis ?
does it need more people ?
There are always plenty of events.
Are they making a loss ?
Are clubs folding ?
Are orienteering opportunities lacking ?

no no no no no

Or is it just about ego ?
wanting other people to go orienteering and realise that the thing we do is actually briliant ( and we must be brilliant for doing it).
Is it just craving recognition, validation ?
Who needs it ?

I guess it's at least partly to do with money, the big thing in uk sport at the moment is participation, if you can help get a nation of TV addicts off their bums and out doing exercise then you are deemed worthy of getting more funding.

[RJ]

Is orienteering in crisis ?
does it need more people ?
There are always plenty of events.
Are they making a loss ?
Are clubs folding ?
Are orienteering opportunities lacking ?

no no no no no.

Unfortunately andy the answer is definitely not a simple 'no' to each of the questions. The sport is definitely in crisis, perhaps not serious as yet, but there are definitely not a sufficient number of people involved to provide a reasonable spread of the workload, and to provide the level of income to make us self sustaining and fit to grow. We could very happily return to the numbers we enjoyed in the seventies and eighties.

Many clubs are under pressure in many regions with membership reducing and some very close to folding. But the bright side is that there are quite a few clubs who are providing a programme of events that is attracting new people and they are managing to increase their membership.

Many clubs are promoting what they do, in a clear way, without the hype of an 'extreme' label, and are attracting people to try the sport. We don't want to be seen as an extreme sport IMO, just a recreational pastime that is FUN and a real CHALLENGE!, with the element of competition if you want it, and the label of a REAL SPORT if you want to travel the country to find like minded competitive individuals against whom you can pitch your skills!

[Red Adder]

Whilst the sport may not be in crisis at this moment its certainly the direction its heading. Several clubs are very dependent on a dwindling number of people who are middle-age and upwards. We desparately need new blood.

As worrying for the mid to long-term survival of the sport is poor economic situation combined with escalating travel costs which could well lead to fewer people being able to go long distances to expensive events.

Survival may well mean concentrating on low key, relatively local events. Luckily the advances in mapping and print technologies can make producing maps quite cheap. Concentrating on low impact local events may actually make getting access easier as it should be easier to sell the health benefits are low environmental impact.

[IanD]

One of my localish clubs, CROC, did fold quite recently, due to falling membership leaving too much work the few remaining. I don't have accurate stats, but I should imagine their catchment area must have a seven-figure population.

[PhilJ]

I believe I have commented on the subjects being raised above on other threads - "Outdoor Show" - no BO attendance and "BOC entry fee changes over time" - the cost for a family to enter the major events, these 2 factors alone are surely an indicator to the potential future demise of 'O' as we know it currently.

[Paul Frost]

I understand you querying if cost is the problem, but these other events like Triathlon, which is seeing a huge surge in growth, and the assorted "Tough" races, which are also growing in number, often have entry fees in the £30-40 range. So the high cost doesn't seem to be restricting their growth.

I suspect that the "Tough" races don't target families or children, for obvious reasons, so it's easier for them to target their marketing and promote a single image.

Triathlon looks like it has considerable children/youths participation without having a particularly "Family Friendly" image. But I don't know if there are many instances of the whole family going Triathloning.

[AAH]

It would be interesting if BOF would try promoting the sport as something fairly physical and adventurous for a period of time rather than the usual sort of happy-clappy family kind of thing. Indeed, hill races (mud/rock/lactic acid/real risk of hurting yourself or getting very cold, tired and/or lost) are on the up but orienteering is not.

It's all very well to focus on getting all sorts of people to come to events but ultimately people either on a level like the challenge of tough running in rough terrain with difficult navigation or don't. People who do stick to the sport. But BOF marketing is NOT targeted at them.

If it didn't work, could just go back to 'the sport for all' as usual.