01:09UK: Backwards is the new forwards at Manchester run
UK: Backwards is the new forwards at Manchester run
Dozens of runners poured into the English city of Manchester, on Sunday, for a very peculiar type of race: backwards running. Participants ran as fast as they could in reverse over the one-mile (1.6-kilometre) course in Heaton Park, taking care to avoid collisions with runners further ahead whom they had little way of seeing.
Some participants said the event was a way to showcase non-conformity in resistance to what they view as authoritative standards in society.
"Running back uses the right-hand side of the brain, hence the reason that they hated us writing with the left hand in school in the old days. Remember that?," said Garret Doherty, the 2012 champion. "That's because if you use the left hand you're going to use the right brain, you're going to think for yourself. You're going to out-think them. You're going to be non-conforming, individualistic and stepping out of line."
Backwards running is the act of running in reverse so that one travels in the direction one's back is facing. It is classed as a retro movement, the opposite of any normal movement, and said to be good for back health due to the straighter posture used for the action.
01:09UK: Backwards is the new forwards at Manchester run
Dozens of runners poured into the English city of Manchester, on Sunday, for a very peculiar type of race: backwards running. Participants ran as fast as they could in reverse over the one-mile (1.6-kilometre) course in Heaton Park, taking care to avoid collisions with runners further ahead whom they had little way of seeing.
Some participants said the event was a way to showcase non-conformity in resistance to what they view as authoritative standards in society.
"Running back uses the right-hand side of the brain, hence the reason that they hated us writing with the left hand in school in the old days. Remember that?," said Garret Doherty, the 2012 champion. "That's because if you use the left hand you're going to use the right brain, you're going to think for yourself. You're going to out-think them. You're going to be non-conforming, individualistic and stepping out of line."
Backwards running is the act of running in reverse so that one travels in the direction one's back is facing. It is classed as a retro movement, the opposite of any normal movement, and said to be good for back health due to the straighter posture used for the action.