A Lancaster University professor co-authored a report detailing the impacts of the “Run It Straight” challenge, including a high risk of brain trauma and catastrophic impacts to the neck and spine.
The challenge, which involves two individuals sprinting towards each other and colliding at full force, has become popular with young men on social media.
Dr Karen Hind is a honorary professor at Lancaster University Medical School and is a member of the Repercussion Group, an international coalition of experts in areas such as neuroscience and public health.
The report warns these glamorised and incentivised events through platforms such as Youtube and TikTok are exposing more and more individuals, typically young men, to physical forces similar to those in car accidents without seatbelts.
The “Run It Straight” challenge has evolved into national and international competitions. The RUNIT Championship League announced a $200,000 cash prize for the winning participant in a competition taking place in Auckland, New Zealand.
The report finds the impact creates a high risk of acute brain, neck, and spine trauma as well as accelerating the long-term development of neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr Karen Hind said in regards to the challenge: “Turning human collisions into viral spectacle is a failure of ethical leadership in both sport and tech. We are calling for immediate policy intervention to protect individuals, particularly young people, from exploitation and irreversible harm.”
Lancaster Medical School has been conducting research into the effects of concussive contact sports, with the paper being its most recent contributions to the ongoing discussion.
The Repercussion Group report further argues these challenges have no ethical safeguards or informed consent and are instead incentivised by social and economic factors that prey on the vulnerable individual and shield the profit-makers from responsibility.
The reports key recommendations includes: public warnings on the dangers of concussive impacts, international bans on monetised “Run It Straight”-style contests, education in schools about the dangers of impact collisions, and research funding to address the long-term harm caused by these practices.
Lead author of the report and medical historian, Dr Stephen T. Casper said: “This is not sport – it is entertainment built on real human harm. These are engineered systems for brain injury, exploiting social media’s viral reach to normalise collisions that can permanently alter lives.”
