Lippi Rat Race
Rat Race Hits the Heights in Chile
Jim Mee (Rat Race Adventure) / 25.01.2011
Come race-day, 300 Chilean Rats gathered in Santiago’s Forest Park right in the heart of the bustling capital for the inaugural event. There was a high level of intrigue as to what the day would bring; they didn’t have to wait long as all was soon revealed about the rat-tastic adventures which lay ahead via a special edition map of the City and a give-out sheet, listing 50 checkpoints across the city centre.
The format was modelled on the popular Rat Race “Mean Streets� and involved teams of 3 bagging as many of the 50 checkpoints dotted around the city as they could in 3.5 hours. With foot travel the only permitted way of moving around town, it was to be tough going in the Summer heat. The start gun was fired at 4.30pm and the race was on for the first time in South America. With unparalleled access to some of Santiago’s most iconic spots and a healthy dose of Rat Race ingenuity, the adventure unfolded on a glorious Sunday afternoon and the teams took to it like Rats to water.
To the north of the city centre, teams found themselves crossing the Mapuche River using both zip wires and a tyrolean-style rope traverse; checking out the views from the summit of Cerro San Cristobel by jumping on a Funicular railway, sack racing, pole dancing, zipping down water slides, singing Karaoke and even scaling the epic set of stairs to bag a CP on the helipad on top of sponsor Movistar’s Telefonica Tower, the highest building in Santiago.
SleepMonsters
