Popular Runs
The Triangle Run: An obvious choice for a race - The Marble Mile (Jalkin-Yaleth), Bennett Avenue (Yaleth-Forgar) and Newton Avenue (Forgar-Jalkin), together with navigating the streets of each city to get to the right gate. Three official Triangle Runs a year, assorted unofficial ones - the latter rather more interesting as no relevant streets are cleared and so navigating the heavy traffic as is as important as athletic prowess.
The Up and Over Race: Also known as Myton's Run, allegedly after the man who inadvertently pioneered the course, doing the distance in record time to escape the wrath of the Guards. The Up and Over is run over the path leading north-south up and down Laer Heln, with little pause to look at the views on the top. Particularly popular amongst Forgar residents.
The Gaspers Run: One of the features of St Maskham's Feast celebrations, though also run at other times. Gaspers, a Yaleth run, starts at the Garrath cathedral and heads down to the Black Dog inn, Mappleton Square. The symbolism doesn't endear itself to the more serious minded. A sister run, equally scurrilous, is the Swingers Run, from Swallows Square to the east gate - numerous folk heroes are credited with it's origin.
Other Sports
Boxing Outlawed though still flourishing in the alleys of poorer districts at night time. Boxing bouts are bare-knuckled and particularly savage, devoid of rules and decided on a last man standing basis. A lot of money can be gambled on bouts and so fight fixing is rife; a skilful organiser can grow very rich by careful management of fights and bets. The boxers are usually local men (often athletes down on their luck) though women's fights are also quite common. Champion boxers can become gain celebrity status in certain sections of society; the two most famous pugilists currently are Kellin Anarto in Jalkin and the Yaleth-based fighter . Though they get various perks (such as free food and lodgings) the actual purses to be won in fights are usually fairly small. The Guards are clamping down heavily on boxing in 1334 after a series of deaths in bouts. There isn't, however, much expectation that they'll eradicate it.
Wrestling Chiefly confined to fairgrounds, along the lines of bury champions inviting locals into the ring and giving them a purse of gold if all their limbs are still intact after five minutes. Wrestling isn't a traditional Christotan sport and has yet to become very popular, seen as rather demeaning and anyway an Erish activity. (Modern wrestling actually originated in Norisca though many of the wrestlers visiting the Cities are Erish). Naked wrestlers of either gender are popular in certain basement clubs but that's not really the same sort of thing.
Rat Racing The connection between rats and diseases has never been made properly. Though they are kept away from food and children they aren't necessarily seen as filthy and are even considered lucky in certain circumstances. Rat racing is one way of utilising the little angels, bless 'em. Though legal it is another 'alleyways sport', often literally; the race track is one end of an alley to another. Another popular thing to gamble on. The rats are generally just collected from alleyways on the eve of each race, though some enthusiasts breed them specially in cages at home.
Elsenball
"What you do is, take a large group of youths from poor families with nothing better to do. You split them into two sides of roughly equal numbers and stand them facing one another in an alleyway or side street. And, no, you don't wait a bit and then sponge the blood off the cobbles. Rather, at either end of the street you fix a pole which holds a board with a square painted on it. You then give the youths a ball of whatever substance you can find - hollow metal, wood, old turnips even, anything which won't rapidly disintegrate but will bounce. You teach the youths a few basic rules - points are scored by throwing the ball into the painted square, no physical contact with the opposing team, the ball can only travel by being passed to team mates or bounced along floor or walls. Finally, it seems, all you have to do is stand back and watch the sport become a phenomenon.
"Over the past decade elsenball had spread across Christoté like ivy. First developed by progressive clerics in the Elsey manufacturing towns, it had travelled to the Cities via itinerant workers. It had found a fine home; the Cities is notoriously susceptible to any new fad and its many alleys and snickets gave elsenball hundreds of potential sites. Kenner had noticed a few games in progress but only just realised how deeply it had imbedded itself. He learned that the balls were still chiefly home-made but that some Forgar craftsmen were busily researching designs and markets to introduce custom built ones. He also learned that the game he was watching was the showdown between the Jakks Lane and Westgate neighbourhoods, and that the winners would have a crack at an unbeaten team from Brekklinside in Yaleth. Signs, indeed, of a flourishing sport.
"The game was taking place just around the corner from his flat. Though primarily a participatory sport, the momentous event drew quite a few spectators. Most were clustered behind the scoring boards, though several were hanging out of the windows of surrounding buildings. Kenner reckoned that soon lucky homeowners would be renting out their balconies for big contests, as they already did on the routes of the popular street races. The game was still being watched with curiosity rather than wild enthusiasm. Cheers were ragged, comments were sarcastic, and Kenner wasn't the only spectator reacting to developments by asking his neighbour "Was that supposed to happen?". Elsenball wasn't always the most enthralling. There was a lot of fancy dribbling, a lot of hopeful punts at the scoring square and an awful lot of misses. The liveliest moments came when one youth shoulder-barged another and the whole group rapidly became an enraged, jostling, cursing ruck. But there were also a few spectacular incidents which left even Kenner moved. Late in the game one of the Jakks Lane team, who were coasting to victory, received the ball. A tall, skinny girl with no appreciable qualities, she had spent most of the game dispassionately watching from the fringes. She bounced the ball several times on the ground, appearing to think, then bounced it diagonally against the wall. Sprinting forward to catch it on its return, just ahead of an opposition player, she repeated the trick and lobbed it forward to a team-mate. He instantly hoisted the ball up into the air, right into the path of the girl who had hurled herself forward in a huge leap. She caught the ball, pirouetted a complete turn in the air and slammed it through a square with a crack which echoed through the street. The whole move had been as quick as the blink of an eye.
""I still say that Yaleth lot'll kick their arses for them," someone stood behind Kenner commented as the crowd applauded the goal. The agent shook his head. Another sign that elsenball was flourishing; everyone in the Cities had become an expert." (from A Shining Light)
Athletics events (excl. Garreday
Games)
Various events are held throughout the year, chiefly at the Ruarn Arena. They rarely attract anything like the crowds of the Garreday Games. Interest tends to be highest just after the Garreday, when the victorious Five Crowns competitors will be on display, but quickly fades away through the autumn. Though the St Maskham's feast games are fairly popular, most other events are chiefly viewed as gambling opportunities.
One exception is the Dorlafan Games. Held on Velb's Day on 20th April, they are the only other occasion when the Ruarn Arena is really packed out (save for livestock markets). Inaugurated in 1267 to begin the very long build-up to the Festival of Christoté, the composition is basically the same as the Garreday Games except six events are competed in, mounted archery being the extra one. The other main difference is that, unlike Garreday where competitors are chiefly from the Cities (with other towns holding rival events on the same day), each of the 15 men and women represent one of the major towns of Dorlaf. This traditional attempt to bolster civic pride can sometimes go too far; serious fighting between factions in the crowd in both 1278 and 1315 caused the suspension of the Dorlafan Games for several years afterwards. Nonetheless, large groups from each town still converge on the Ruarn Arena each year, most flourishing their colours and emblems. The victors can expected even more endorsements and illicit favours from their home towns than the Garreday Games victors enjoy; those losing particularly embarrassingly often have to flee the area. Staycey Kerritz, the dominant Five Crowns athlete, also won the Dorlafan Games in 1333, representing her adopted home of Yaleth despite her Schallic ancestry. Generally, though, the Cities fares poorly compared with smaller towns and the male champion, Endez Marlat, is the latest in a long line of Chorley victors.