The Rat Race EDINBURGH Urban Adventure Race
Close Contest at 6th Edinburgh Rat Race
News Release / 22.07.2009
552 competitors raced over two days (Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July) for the sixth Edinburgh Rat Race, the flagship of the seven event Rat Race Urban Adventure Series, and after a gruelling race spanning 85km only a few points separated the top 3 teams.The winning mixed team were Helly Hansen/Nuun, comprising Iona Robertson, Richard Wild and Clive Parry who finished 3rd overall. Iona Robertson said: 'We're all really pleased to have won our category since the competition was as high as ever. It was a tough couple of days; pretty hard work but on a great course mixed in with some pretty obscure checkpoint challenges'.
They covered the 65km course of Sunday's Nine2Five race in 05:51:41 and finished with a points total of 1353.3, just behind top all male team Top Bananas in the Buff, who placed second overall. Surprisingly an all male team has never won the Edinburgh Rat Race, and Top Bananas just missed out on top spot by less than 1 point over the whole weekend. They were pipped by a visiting male pair from Poland, racing as Team 360 Degrees Poland. Igor Diachut and Irek Waluga, had driven non-stop for 24 hours to get to the race, never competed in a Rat Race before, and didn’t know Edinburgh â€" so it was a very impressive win for the pair.
The race was divided into two sections. First came the Mean Streets Prologue on Saturday evening, a two and a half hour running challenge (up to 20km) where teams had to check in to as many checkpoints around the city centre as possible. At a selection of these checkpoints the rats were also required to carry out tasks. These included 'dooking' for apples, water polo and a 30 metre long flooded river scramble. The Mean Streets Race included all 259 mixed teams of three.
The Nine2Five race took place on Sunday with a field of 138 teams navigating their way round a course of mountain biking, climbing, abseiling and kayaking, with navigation being a key element to success or failure. Having set off on a massed start from The Adventure Village, West Princes Street Gardens at 9.00am the 414 athletes began the day counting benches, a challenge intended to slow the field down and split them up.
This was closely followed by a cycle down the Warriston Steps in the Old Town and an orienteering exercise on Arthur's Seat. Other challenges on the 65km cycle route included a cycleway skirmish, throwing a team mate into the sea at Granton, a trolley dash round an obstacle course at the Gyle Shopping Centre, kayaking in the Union Canal and swimming across the Bonaly Reservoir. One of the final challenges of the day was a traverse across the central steel roof beam of the egg-shaped Lindsay Stewart lecture theatre at Napier University's Craiglockhart Campus followed by an abseil to the floor below.
Jim Mee from Detail Events, founder of the Rat Race Urban Adventure Series, said: 'The Edinburgh Rat Races gets better and better each year with this year's new course planner, Stewart Caithness, really proving his worth. It was an extremely close and hard fought race for the top four or five teams. This is a tough event and the competition at the top end is always fierce.
'Edinburgh is always a great place for us to race; there are so many amazing places to see, climb and jump off! It's a special place for us as it's where the Rat Race first started. It's a beautiful city - the stunning architecture, elaborate streets and rugged and diverse terrain and man made obstacles make it an ideal location for urban adventure racing and we have been privileged to use it for the event once again. The rats will definitely return in force in 2010!'
The adventure now continues on to Sheffield on 1 and 2 August, Belfast on 8 and 9 August, Galway on 5 and 6 September; with the final event of the series in London on 26 and 27 September.See All Event Posts
