The Rat Race EDINBURGH Urban Adventure Race
Docks, Cut Locks and Shocks
Rob Howard / 18.07.2007
Prince’s Street Gardens came alive to the sounds and action of the Rat Race once again, as the UK’s urban adventure race returned to its spiritual home in Edinburgh last weekend. There was a full entry of racers from all backgrounds, and though it might be the wettest July on record the Rat Race weather juju was working again, and the sun shone on the prologue and Sunday’s main event.There was a change of plan for the prologue, which started much earlier this time around. The 5.00pm start time meant the run around the city streets had a very different atmosphere, taking place in daylight and with an audience of Saturday shoppers and tourists, rather than late night revellers.
As a stream of racers ran out of the Ross Bandstand and swarmed around the slips of paper with the points values there was some bemusement from those watching … and from the teams who did not stick together in the melee. One racer returned to HQ some time later to ask if they had his team mates mobiles numbers … so he could make contact again!
By that time the majority of the teams were dispersed all around the city, looking for obscure checkpoints and the usual choice of bizarre and entertaining challenges. These were scattered all around, with one on Cat Nick on Salisbury Craigs offering a great view over Edinburgh, another at a sculpture by the iconic Scottish Parliament building and the most southerly being ‘biscuit racing’ in Meadow Park. This involved placing a biscuit on the forehead and moving it around to your mouth … without using your hands of course. The facial contortions were a sight to behold!
Those nearest to the Gardens included a jump across some boulders on Carlton Hill and the challenge of catching the ‘runaway bride’. In full wedding dress race marshal Rachel was at 3 locations at different times, where she could be proposed to (down on one knee), happily married with a kiss, and finally divorced. She had to be caught first however, as given the chance she’d hitch up her skirt and run for it!See All Event Posts
