OMM - Original Media Mayhem!

If, like me, you arose last Sunday morning to see images of the Original Mountain Marathon blazoned across your TV screen & felt excitement that perhaps you might actually be able to watch it on mainstream telly, you will also have surely felt slightly sick to find that it was only there to receive a right royal kicking from the news media!

The patronising nature of almost all reports about this event must surely rile outdoors enthusiasts. Particularly the accusations that we are somehow selfish, mad or negligent when venturing into the hills in conditions many people wouldn’t even walk down the street in. Fell running has a rich heritage of pressing on regardless. It’s what makes the sport the pinnacle of mountain running & should be maintained.

Sure, conditions were extreme on this occasion & the organisers cancelled the event when the forecasts proved to be correct. But what would have happened if they had cancelled the event in advance only to find that the weather had abated? Wouldn’t they have failed in their obligation to the entrants, many of whom had travelled long distances to compete in, potentially, these conditions? Where do you draw the line?

To those who complained about the cost of the “rescue operation” I simply ask: how much does it cost the Police Service to maintain even a basic low risk presence at a single football match anywhere in the country week in, week out?

What this has all shown is how little the outdoors community can rely on the mainstream media to help it grow & prosper. We may get some good shows on telly with various personalities having a go at climbing or canoeing & this will give us a brief view of our sports in fabulous high definition. But there is a fundamental fault line in the media's understanding of outdoor pursuits & we need to accept that the relationship could fail at any moment.

Broadcasters will always look at the bigger picture which is, for them, the sensibilities of the wider mass audience. If ‘Indignant of Islington’ feels that a fell race in torrential rain is down right insanity, the mainstream broadcasters will reflect that view because they have more to gain by following the pack than the lone wolf. Of course we all know that what they should do is to deliver a balanced, well informed summary of fact. But then that doesn’t make for very good television, does it!

With the serious outdoors community numbering the hundreds of thousands, if not millions & the health benefits of outdoor pursuits potentially being a cure for many of the nation’s health issues, shouldn’t we be seeking to nurture a sense among people that taking on a challenge like the OMM, in conditions just like this, is something to aspire to, not ridicule?

Why is it that scaling Everest as a ‘tourist’ climber is seen by society as an acceptable achievement, perhaps even one of the ‘top ten things to do before you die’, inspite of the very serious risks & yet allowing 2,000 runners to go well prepared into the mouth of a storm in the Lakeland fells is criminally insane?

Maybe only we understand. Maybe it should become the sole aim of all outdoors enthusiasts to get more people to share our understanding?

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV