BASECAMP 2012 - Rat Run

---

Rat Racing at the seaside

Eddie Winthorpe / 01.07.2008

On Saturday 28th, nearly 200 competitors descended on Brighton for the first Rat Race to be held in this popular seaside town. A strong South Westerly wind and complete cloud cover kept the racers guessing as to what the elements would throw at them.

With a view over the sea and the derelict West Pier, the course planner outlined what was to come: a Prologue on foot, three Adventure Loops (on bikes) - separated by short kayaking and climbing stages - then an epilogue on foot. The clouds cleared, to reveal a beautiful (but still windy!) summer’s day.

Having just 45 minutes to read through the route book, apply sunblock and do other last-minute preparations, kept even the most experienced racers under pressure. Some teams opted to leave their maps unmarked, hoping to follow the route book “on the fly�.

The mass start saw teams running three hundred metres along the stone beach to the give out. At this point, all that the teams knew was the Prologue would be foot orienteering: at the Give-out, the teams got their first look at the Prologue control locations, descriptions, values - and most importantly – closing times.

Teams had just one hour to get as many of the seven checkpoints as they could, one of which was only open for half an hour. Local knowledge proved a huge bonus for some teams: two checkpoints were indicated by photographs of murals within a grid square. Other teams were not so lucky and did a lot of random searching and asking Saturday shoppers for help. Even local taxi drivers struggled with the location of the \"No Name Bar\"! At the Komedia Cafe, teams had to make the Marshall laugh, and in Superdrug in busy Churchill Square shopping mall they applied sunblock. Rayments Cycle Shop had set up static bikes outside where teams had to pedal 2km before being allowed to dib. One of the more unusual checkpoints was a form of mandatory kit check, with teams having to pass 5 items of kit through the \"eye\" of a sculpture, [“Afloat�, on the East Street Groyne] hampered by conveniently (or inconveniently) placed tourists taking photographs on the other side.See All Event Posts