Playing it safe

Protect yourself from sports, exercise injuries.
About 7 million people receive medical treatment or counselling for sports and recreation related injuries each year in the United States, a new report finds.

Injuries from sports and exercise are surprisingly common, more so than injuries from traffic accidents, according to a new nationwide survey. And with such trends as the weekend warrior phenomenon and the increasing competitiveness of youth sports, experts predict even more injuries in the future.

It's known that people who are injured are at greater risk for re-injury, and for eventually throwing in the towel. That raises concerns that injured exercisers will shun future physical activity, perpetuating the coach potato culture.

The drive to get people going is not enough, we also need to give them guidance and proper rehabilitation. But even with the threat of injury, the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle are far greater.

The risks to not being physically active are epidemic levels of obesity and diseases of inactivity that go along with it. Obsesity and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with myriad problems, including diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.---Extract from J Stenson, MSNBC contributor.

It was reported that a serious accident happened in a hash run of last Sunday on 27-7-03. A young guest runner whose eye was popped in by a splint of oil palm branch stands a risk of losing an eye.

This signals a message that caution and moderation is the key to prevent such tragedy to happen. Be alert and listening to your body and take a moderation approach. Hashing is not a competition, and enjoy whatever your limit could permit. It is also very important for the hare to consider the aspect of safety for the fellow hashers, and do not lead the hashers to go through uncalled for hazards like beehives, crossing a wooden plank above a dry drain 10 feet deep, horrible returned trail after dark or too long a trail such that runners could not return. It is also very important that the hare should recce the trail thoroughly to avoid the hare himself got lost and so the following hashers. Accident could happen but with a little bit of care and commonsense, it can be prevented.

ON ON! Happy Hashing !

T T Kang, hasheditor