Sport Relief is upon us like a nettle knicker rash. Sitting in the middle of a summer of sport like a rancid boil on an otherwise attractive partners arse, are sporting people making tits of themselves and non-sportsmen trying to make sportsmen of themselves. But what is Sport Relief all about? Frankly its name says it all.
Sport Relief is a sporting version of Comic Relief. That is clear in its clunky title which means nothing. Comic Relief is a telethon which intices us to spend money in theory by offering us lots of comedy specials and suggests we get in the spirit by equally doing something “funny”. There are massive flaws in this description, but the idea generally is we make the world better and make ourselves feel good at the same time (even if dried custard is still stuck to our pubic hairs for months afterwards). Sport Relief borrows much of the trapping and tries to make a direct parallel between comedy and sport. Something we like to watch, but can also participate in.
Which is where this years big idea comes in. Run A Mile for Sport Relief. (Run a mile from Sport Relief sticks in my mind), and are pimping particularly fat celebs to show that all of us can do it. Fine, great, all of us probably can run a mile. But if all of us do run a mile, who is left to sponsor us? Run a mile because it makes you feel good, run a mile because you can and give money to charity too. And a charity that has thought it through a bit better.