POWER, CORRUPTION AND LIES
The title of one of my favourite New Order albums. Quite a digression there as this next submission of ramblings ought to be all about the little cracker of a fell race that is Dunnerdale.
I will get around to that at a later date and also in honour of a fell race report I read by Darren Fishwick recently, who decided to subtly and not so subtly incorporate as many names of punk bands as he could, I will try and blend in the eight song titles from that 1983 New Order classic in my pending Dunnerdale report. I read much of other runner's blogs and musings, but Dazza's self-styled gems of literature are always worth full attention.
But for now, why the the theme of Power, Corruption and Lies anyway? What in the name of sanity does this rambling have to do with anything in particular? Well there was much bigger beef that came to light as far as the sport I love is concerned. I'm talking about clear evidence of running authorities practicing unfairness and yes, let's go out there with the 'c' word... corruption. Just when we all thought Jonny Mellor's inexplicable emission from the Commonwealth Games marathon team was the epitomy of all things nonsense from the powers that be, fell running also took a hit as Ribble Valley's champion ladies from the British Fell Relays at Llanberis last month were latterly disqualified by a technical discrepancy that was actually the fault of authority and not the club. You couldn't make it up. In short, a runner's incorrect registration number was administered - not by herself or club - but by the custodians of righteousness at England Athletics. It's sad enough that some anonymous, deeply twisted poor loser dug deep enough to even discover this. That the champion ladies were actually dethroned as a result rather than somebody being big enough at UKA to accept fault is a complete travesty of sporting justice. Ok, so it's close to home as this is the club I have just joined, but that doesn't mean a jot of difference here to the outrage of what is essentially a decision which falls foul of anything associated with fairness and common sense.
The Fell Runners Association had already sold their soul to UK Athletics when really all they needed was a shoulder to lean on for things like liability and insurance. What's happened is, whether or not the FRA fought Ribble Valley's corner hard enough, they have had to submit the rights to govern their own competition. English Athletics had also concluded the club had done nothing wrong, but why couldn't they push harder when there has clearly been a wrong doing? In my opinion, this is a massive failure by all three of these authorities and a thorough disgrace, belittling the competition, competitors and the sport itself. An amateur sport all said. Even after calming down, trying to be rational and see the other side, I can only deduce a bottom line upon which corruption and lies are written upon it.
The FRA have to look at themselves and ask what role they play in actually managing fell running anymore. There are doubtless many people within the organisation that innocently work hard on a voluntary basis. The Fellrunner magazine is an institution, the website is great with results and forums and links galore. But what lies beneath? Boasting record FRA membership recently doesn't mean a lot when ultimately the organisation has forfeited powers to shape the destiny of the sport it was originally founded to protect and behold.     
A couple of years ago I withdrew my membership of the Fell Runners Association because I thought they had got too close to UK Athletics in that they were rolling over and allowing the autocratic bigwigs from UKA to tickle their bellies in to submission before being kept close on a short lead. I can't see myself rejoining now! Has it made a difference to my life? I miss the magazine and more so the fixtures calendar, but other than that, no. As ever, my gratitude to enjoyment of racing on the fells falls firmly at the knees of the real heroes of our sport which are the race organisers.
My sympathy goes to the team of six lasses and their coach Chris Barnes. All that hard work, time and effort, unravelled in a glitch of paperwork and a blind eye to accountability. If I've got upset, they must be seething. If there is a conspiracy out there to pummel Ribble Valley's emergence, I think I am right in stating that this disgraceful episode will only serve to make them stronger.