The Rat Race EDINBURGH Urban Adventure Race
Rats Round Edinburgh
Team Top Bananas / 21.07.2010
The weekend of the 17th/18th July marked another year of Rat Racing in the city of Edinburgh - the original home of the race. With about 500 entries this year, including adidasTERREX, the current AR World Champions, it was going to be interesting to see what the course planners had come up with this time. Promises of more 'real mountain biking' were made on the pre-race newsletter and with very damp conditions in the week preceding the event, this could be make or break for some teams.Stewart Caithness was once again in the driving seat as course planner and the wealth of experience in the form of previous routes is also a burden, as it meant that he would have to come up with something new for 2010. True to previous years, he didn't disappoint, and presented (along with the rest of the Rat Race Adventure crew) another good course. Long for those that wanted to challenge for podium positions and interesting for those that were out to enjoy, more than punish themselves.
The race starts with the Mean Streets - a 2.5 hour city orienteering challenge using A-Z maps; lots of check points, lots of 'activities' and no contours on the maps. On receiving the check point list this year, two obvious loops were evident; one to the South of the city, one to the North. However, as the points aren't available until after the start, route choices at this point are just that - choices.
Showers earlier in the day briefly returned during the period when most people were marking up their maps, but once again, the weather held off for rest of the evening, bathing us in sunshine for the most part. How the Rat Race planners do this is a mystery; there were no obvious signs of any ritual sacrifices or offerings to deities.
As 5pm drew closer, the various teams around us started making final preparations and we made best use of the sofa in the Buff tent - relaxing and eating sweets... Hard life... My world was soon to be turned upside down, so I decided to enjoy the comfort while I could. The easy life wasn't going to last long though, as Gary Valance soon had everyone up and about, warming up for the race 'Urban Gym' style. 5pm rolled on and the mass of bodies under the starting arch quickly dispersed into Princes Street gardens, and then onwards into the heart of the city; everyone looking for points.
After quickly looking at the points on offer, the majority seemed to be in the 15-20 range, with one exception of a 40, down in Leith. Sticking to our original plan, we headed South to a couple of activity check points; eager to get there before any queues had a chance to form, so the pace was fast.See All Event Posts
