from Jeremy Lyons Coal mining has long been regarded as one of the most dangerous occupations in the world and it’s probably no surprise that an indoor meet at an old mining town in France has thrown up one of the more dangerous yet exhilarating and ‘I want to try that’ track races of the year. Lievin in the north of France hosted a 400m indoor hurdles race in February this year and while not the first 400m hurdles indoor race it is one of the first to be captured on video. Using just eight flights instead of the regulation ten, the race is run with same rules as a normal indoor 400m with the first 170m in lanes and then the athletes break for the second lap. That’s were the fun starts as hurdling in a lane all to yourself can be hard enough but hurdling when it’s a free for fall is asking for trouble.
Thankfully (or maybe disappointingly) in this race the carnage was kept to a minimum except for the last hurdle which is placed quite deviously only five metres from the finish line. Watching it, my brain began ticking and who knows we may see one of these in Nenagh next season. I’m sure 1932 Olympic 400m Hurdle Champion and Nenaghman Bob Tisdall would have approved.
The action in the video link below kicks off at around the 1:35 mark.