I think the OTT requirements has come in via the none running club race organisers,as well as the increased entry fees.When you have to pay out insurances for individual races instead of having a blanket cover club affiliated insurance,it must cost a fortune.Together with the fear of having claims,driving the insurance even higher.You can understand why they insist on having as many safety requirements as possible.When you have short trail races asking for map,compass,full body cover etc,you wonder where is it going to end ? This then becomes the norm amongst all races,club or privately run.
The appeal of fell running is surely that of freedom and small rule books.Why is the entry form disclaimer not worth the paper its written on ?
Will we have GPS chips,flares or ration packs ? ... i've seen a race requiring you carry at least 750ml of water !!!!
What will be next ??