New One-Day Rat Race at Birmingham Outdoors Show
Rob Howard / 20.12.2007
Rat Racing in 2008 will begin with a new venue and the launch of the new one-day ‘Nine 2 Five’ format at the Outdoors Show at Birmingham’s NEC.The existing two-day races will still be taking place and dates for Bristol, Edinburgh and London have already been announced for June, July and September, but the new race gets in first with it’s debut on March 15th.
Rat Race have partnered with The Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show and will start the new race from the exhibition halls where tens of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts will be enjoying the show, which combines adventure sports, adventure travel and watersports shows, and is the biggest event of it’s kind in the UK. Some may recall the show featured the ACE Races indoor adventure race for several years, and now AR is a feature of the show once again!
The new Race Planner is Shane Ohly who will be working with Gary Tompsett of Detail Events to find the best urban adventures for a madcap day out in Birmingham, starting at the NEC and using Rat Base 2 in Brindley Place in the heart of the city centre. With the race planning already well underway he’s finding plenty of surprises and opportunities in the city.
“You\'ll be amazed at the complexity of the city centre, not least the chic and boutique shops above ground and in the malls, the award winning sports and leisure facilities and the massive city canal network (often underground),†he said. “Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice, and we\'ve found them all already! Be prepared to be totally immersed in this industrial heartland, before re-tracing your steps back from the City Centre via more adventure destinations until you finally return to the NEC for the closing stages and surprise activities within the Outdoor Show itself.â€
The race will be the first using the new ‘Nine 2 Five’ Rat Race format (more are planned later in the year). There may be some variations (this is Rat Racing), but the general format will be to begin with an hour long ‘prologue’ on foot, followed by a bike section to reach a number of ‘Adventure Destinations’ for rope, boat and other activities. Then it will be back to base before setting out on the final running stage as the clock ticks down to the end of the 8-hour time limit.
The race is open to teams of 3 AND pairs, another new departure for Rat Racing, and can now take 16-18 old competitors in the Youth Class (with parental consent).
All the details are at www.ratraceadventure.com and there are special entry prices for The Outdoors Show and valuable early bird discounts for entries before the end of the year - so get your entry in quick!
