The Rat Race BRISTOL Urban Adventure Race
Bananas in Bristol
Marty Lee - Team Top Bananas / 13.07.2009
A new event base in Bristol\'s Castle Park brought the race closer to the city centre, and the general public; now the race has evolved into a number of sub-races and categories, it\'s also much more accessible for those that want to give it a try. Hopefully bringing more people into the sport.
Registered in the Weekender category (i.e. doing both days) with a mixed team, we eagerly awaited instructions from Gary Vallance the course director, on where we were going to be visiting over the course of the weekend. New highs and lows were alluded to - reminding everyone that Bristol has some hills; not least the steepest residential street in Britain.
Saturday night followed the usual format - 2.5 hours of city based navigation, littered with random activities at certain check points. I don\'t think any of us have spray painted a wall with graffiti before, and at least one control needed team work just to reach it - hope there weren\'t any vertically challenged teams on the course... We also visited the aforementioned steepest street in Britain; local garages must have made millions in replacing clutches for the residents - this is the definition of a \'Hill Start\'
After just over the 2.5 hours, we returned to Castle Park - knowing some of our decisions weren\'t the best, and wondering just how well the other teams did. But for us, it was straight back to the apartment for some pasta, in preparation for the longer Sunday course.
The weather on Sunday was bright and fine when we arrived at the event centre, but noticeably cooler than the previous evening. Our small apartment block was also the residential choice for at least one Hen party, and across from us was what looked (and sounded) like a large studio apartment party - that proceeded into the small hours. Sleep was OK, but like most cities on a Saturday night, not guaranteed!
The Sunday route book was handed out, and teams scurried off to find a suitable flat surface so maps could be marked up and information distilled. Even at 7:30am, passers by were stopping to ask what was going on - little did they know that a plague of rats were about to be unleashed on Bristol.
SleepMonsters
