Schools Adventure Race For Glasgow

Rob Howard / 11.09.2006

In any discussion on how to grow the fledgling sport of Adventure Racing one obvious suggestion is always to introduce young racers to what is involved in AR.

It’s not easy, and so far has proved impossible due to age restrictions imposed by the insurance companies of race organisers. These effectively bar anyone under 18 from even taking part, even in a short or demonstration adventure race, with the inevitable consequence of stunting the potential growth of the sport.

A new initiative called ‘Adventure Zone Scotland’, started by Glasgow racer Rob Sanderson, and organised with Phil Robinson of the Physical and Outdoor Activities Team of Glasgow City Council, is aiming to address this, with a first event in Pollok Park on October 22nd.

The race is aimed at teenagers from Glasgow, and its hoped 30 schools will take part in a free, short sprint event. Sanderson has been trying to get the idea established for 2 years and when he approached the Glasgow activities team they jumped at the chance. Crucially, they also said as long as the race took place in a City park it would be insured under the council’s policies. It was the green light Sanderson had been hoping for.

Explaining his concept he says; “Adventure racing promotes not just one sport but many different sports such as mountain biking, trail running, orienteering, climbing, canoeing, and the skills needed can be as hard or as simple as the race organizers feel necessary to make the race run smoothly and safely. It involves teamwork and most of all is an environmentally friendly race, which promotes health and fitness in a fun way. We think this will appeal to the schools and their students.”