A new Aussie sport called ‘Run it Straight’ is going viral online for its bone-crunching hits.
The self-proclaimed “world’s fiercest collision sport” involves two opponents running at full speed toward each other until one is knocked out.
Its popularity has surged on social media, drawing in former rugby stars and leading to a cash-prize championship event held in Melbourne.
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But Neuroscientist Dr Alan Pearce, who specialises in sport-related concussion, says the sport is “designed basically to exploit the most violent aspects of contact sport”
Dr Pearce warns that even without direct hits to the head, brain tissue can be damaged by the violent acceleration and deceleration of impacts.
“The brain is a very delicate tissue… when you get massive hits, the brain tissue moves and it stretches and it shears the brain cells,” Dr Pearce said.
“There’s this accumulation of repeated blows that leads to brain diseases like dementia, motor neuron disease, parkinson’s disease and now more recently chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE that we are seeing in the rugby and football players,” he said.
Despite growing evidence, Dr Pearce says some sports fans and organisations still downplay the risks.
“We are still battling to try and get people to fully understand what the risks are long term.”
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