Nyrome

This picture I found at the BBC online today and it's from the event, which I cut and past below for your convenience from the official web site for the Rat Race Urban Adventure:

https://www.ratraceadventure.com

WHAT IS THE RAT RACE URBAN ADVENTURE?
The Rat Race is a mental and physical adventure challenge that uses the cityscape as its playground over a whole weekend. Teams of three have to run, climb, mountain bike, abseil and kayak the streets, structures, waterways and urban jungles as they navigate their way around a course that's only revealed hours before they begin. Taking place in Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester, each Rat Race Urban Adventure shares the Event Village base with live music entertainment, urban sports battles, action sports demos, outdoor sports and refreshment stalls, and of course the legendary after parties.

RAT RACE DATES 2006:
BRISTOL 17/18 June 06
EDINBURGH 15/16 July 06
MANCHESTER 5/6 August 06


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Entry Classes Explained:
All three 2006 Rat Race Urban Adventure events will run by the same format, with a series trophy being awarded for the most points accumulated over the three cities. Prizes will be awarded for top three mixed teams, best all girls and best all guys in the Adventure Class, the top teams in the Rookie class along with loads of spot prizes.

Both classes require teams of 3, containing at least 1 female, to be eligible for the top three prizes.

Adventure Class: £80 per person
Teams of three : reasonable fitness : over-18's : Saturday and Sunday
i.) the Saturday night 'Mean Streets' Prologue: choose your own routes through the city streets accumulating checkpoints within a 3-hour time limit.
ii.) Sunday's all day main event - navigate your team around an 80km course of adventure - on bike, foot, kayak, & rope, with surprise "Rat Trap" challenges on the way.

ANYONE can take part (subject to general fitness requirements) and any team will have equal chance to shine on the differing activities in the course.

Rookie Class: £25 per person
Teams of three : any fitness : different age groups : Saturday night only
i.) join the main race field for the 3-hour Saturday night 'Mean Streets' Prologue: at your own pace, trying to hit as many madcap checkpoints as possible.

The Rookie Class is open to ANYONE over 18, with a Youth Category in Manchester too. The Rat Race Rookie Class is designed to provide adventure racing in a bite sized chunk! Most is based on foot at whatever pace you like, as the format allows for fun, exertion and entertainment over lesser distances.

All Rat Racers (Rookie and Adventure) get automatic entry and guests to the Saturday and Sunday night Rat Race parties!

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Event Disciplines
Foot Travel

You can run or walk – the key is to select suitable footwear and travel at whatever pace is best for your team. Within the prologue section, or rookie event, you will be on your feet for 3 hours. In the Sunday event section, you will be swapping between the bike and your feet a few times; the key is to set a consistent pace that will see you through to the end of the race, as a team.

Mountain Biking

Your bike needs to be robust, not flash. And although we dictate that it must be a mountain bike, there are a number of different road surfaces you will encounter. You will no doubt have noticed the pictures of people careering down flights of steps; well, that is part of the action but just as many people walk as fly down these on their bikes. So don’t worry about the steps. For technical single-track junkies, there should be some challenging riding sections and for those that don’t fancy the berms and bumps, some chicken runs. Being in a city, you will be on the road a fair amount, but rarely on main carriageways; we would rather show you the ins and outs of the city from lesser travelled routes and thoroughfares.

Navigation

This is the backbone of the Rat Race – the ability to move as a team with map in hand. We use a number of differing styles of mapping and this can prove interesting for even the most seasoned of orienteers – how many times have you navigated from an aerial photograph, in a city? You should familiarise yourself with “classical” mapping from the city environment, particularly A to Z maps. Whilst the navigation underpins the whole Race, it is not designed to catch people out. And, with so many people on the course and friendly locals out and about in the city, you will rarely be very far away from help with directions!

Rope-work

The Rat Race has to be the only opportunity anywhere you get to abseil off buildings and engage with the architecture of the city in such a dramatic adventurous way. You may be climbing something, you may be descending, but you are always safe and under the supervision of our professional safety crews. Enjoy the views, enjoy the surreality and next time you drive through town, gaze skywards and wonder what building we’re busy organising activity on, in or over!

Many people ask us about the climbing or abseiling and skill levels required. You have to be able to tie into a harness and be confident on a rope. You DO NOT need to be Spiderman. If you’re unsure about your skill level, then we can take you through a one-hour refresher course before the event on the Saturday morning. So enjoy it, don’t worry about it!

Parkour

You may have seen Jump London or Jump Britain and watched lean Frenchmen, or "traceurs", jumping from rooftop to rooftop. We work with PK traceurs in each city to develop sections of the course that take their inspiration from Parkour…traversing walls, vaulting benches, swinging round lamp-posts and generally using the built environment as an obstacle course through which to flow freely. That is the name of the game. It’s fun and fast. You’ll love it.

Kayaking

This is the arena where we have fun watching! The difference in skill levels of various paddlers is always evident in the Rat Race. You should be able to paddle a kayak in a straight line; you are not going to be descending the Zambezi in Bristol City Centre. It’s fun to be afloat and the teams that paddle together as a team prevail. You may be on the sea, on a canal or on a river. You’ll always be under the watchful eye of our safety-kayakers and safety-launches and if you’re a little rusty in the water, take advantage of the Saturday morning refresher course before the race.

Now that’s an event!

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Quick Facts
BRISTOL RAT RACE
What: The Rat Race Bristol Urban Adventure - Adventure pursuits on the streets of Bristol!
Where: The City of Bristol. Event Village at Lloyds TSB Ampitheatre, Bristol Floating Harbour
Date: June 17/ 18th 2006
Duration:
Rookie Class: 3 hours maximum on Saturday Evening. Typically 7-10pm
Adventure Class: 3 hours maximum on Saturday. 6 hours minimum on Sunday
Disciplines: Running, Biking, Canoeing, Rope-related, Orienteering, Secret sections
Length of Course: Saturday 15 km max. Sunday 80 km max.
Team Composition: 3 team members, mixed sex teams. BUT we will also allow single sex teams to race; these teams will NOT be able to win the event outright however.
Competitor Age: The minimum age for all competitors (Adventure & Rookie) is 18
Team Limit: 150 teams in Adventure Class. 50 teams in Rookie Class.
Support Crew: None allowed during race periods in all classes.
Who can enter: Anyone who is fit or who enjoys a challenge can enter.
Entry Fee: £80 per person in adventure class. £25 per person for Rookies.
Entry Method: Download, print and post online entry form and send a cheque or complete the form online and pay by credit card/ Switch online
Entry Closes: May 31st 2006.

EDINBURGH RAT RACE
What: The Rat Race Edinburgh Urban Adventure - The UK's Original Urban Adventure Race
Where: The City of Edinburgh. Event Village at Prince's Street Gardens
Date: July 15/16th 2006
Duration:
Rookie Class: 3 hours maximum on Saturday Evening. Typically 7-10pm
Adventure Class: 3 hours maximum on Saturday. 6 hours minimum on Sunday
Disciplines: Running, Biking, Canoeing, Rope-related, Orienteering, Secret sections
Length of Course: Saturday 15 km max. Sunday 80 km max.
Team Composition: 3, mixed.
Competitor Age: The minimum age for all competitors (Adventure & Rookie) is 18
Team Limit: 200 teams in main Adventure Class. 50 Rookie teams.
Support Crew: None allowed during race periods in all classes.
Who can enter: Anyone who is fit and enjoys a challenge can enter.
Entry Fee: £80 per person in adventure class. £25 per person for Rookies.
Entry Method: Download, print and post online entry form and send a cheque or complete the form online and pay by credit card/Switch online.
Entry Closes: June 30th 2006.

MANCHESTER RAT RACE
What: The Rat Race Manchester, part of the Manchester Urban X weekend
Where: The City of Manchester. Event Village at Piccadilly Gardens
Date: 5/ 6th August 2006
Duration:
Rookie Class: 3 hours maximum on Saturday Evening. Typically 7-10pm
Adventure Class: 3 hours maximum on Saturday. 6 hours minimum on Sunday
Disciplines: Running, biking, rope-related, kayaking, orienteering, secret sections
Length of Course: Saturday 15km max. Sunday 80km max.
Team Composition: Teams of 3 in all classes
Competitor Age: The minimum age is 18 for Adventure & Rookie and 14-17 for Youth.
Youth Event: Ages for those in the youth event must be between 14 & 17,
Team Limit: 150 teams in main Adventure Class. 50 Youth and 50 Rookie teams
Who can enter: Anyone who is fit and enjoys a challenge can enter.
Entry fee: £80 per person in Adventure Class. £25 per person for Rookies and Youth.
Entry Method: Download, print and post online entry form and send a cheque or complete the form online and pay by credit card/Switch online.
Entry Closes: 14 July 2006


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Event History
Background
The Rat Race is the creation of Jim Mee, ex Red Bull events specialist and now Director of Detail Events and the Rat Race Urban Adventure Series, alongside other adventure oriented events. It’s fair to say that Jim has had a busy career in the events world, starting at Red Bull where he was responsible for creating some of their most famous extreme sporting events.

During his time at Red Bull, Jim got to know Gary Tompsett and they worked closely on adventure race projects starting with the 2001 Adrenalin Rush for which Gary was designing the course. The pair then teamed up to produce the Red Bull Northern Exposure in 2002, the first ever adventure race staged in winter. From these roots, the events keep coming!

Birth of the Rat
Mountaineering in Peru, Jim’s idea of making an adventure race as accessible for the amateur as it is challenging for the pro’s, the Rat Race Urban Adventure was born in 2004, where adventure sports were taken from the mountains and wilderness to where most people are: the city centres. The City of Edinburgh hosted the first ever Rat Race Urban Adventure – the ideal venue, virtually purpose built as an urban adventure playground. With the enthusiastic support of the City Council the Detail crew set about reconnoitering all the fantastic natural and man made assets of Edinburgh and the first of many Rat Races was born.

On July 17th 2004 115 teams lined up on the grid and raced through a two stage race over, under, round and through the streets and environs of Edinburgh. 100km and a few blisters later, Team Saab Salomon Orange crossed the line in Edinburgh’s Prince’s Street Gardens to take the trophy, leading home the most diverse field of athletes ever seen in adventure racing. From all out rookies to the best in the business, this is what the Rat Race is all about: participation and fun.

Rat Series
2005 saw the Rat multiply ... Like Edinburgh, Bristol City has always been a mecca of great terrains, waterways, parkland and secret settings, and again, with an enthusiastic council, Bristol proved to be the ideal South Western venue for the first of the Rat Race Urban Adventure Series 2005. In July 05, the Edinburgh Rat Race returned with greater gusto, incorporating new amazing experiences such as abseiling from Murrayfield rugby stadium, kayaking under the Forth Rail Bridge, and the infamous space hoppers at the Gyle Shopping Centre. Manchester City Council also wanted some urban action, so the Rat Race was incorporated into Manchester Urban X – a festival of action sports, which also involved the inaugural Bruntwood Aerial Assault where the UK’s top climbers took on the challenge of scaling 12 Manchester buildings and structures.

WannaGetGood

That is actully a cool idea to me. I kina had the same idea, except only 1 person insteed of a team. Have a Urban Race. Make a course throught a city, build wood or dirt jumps everywhere that the riders have to hit, and see you has the quickest time, kinda like downhill except for Street Riders.

Blazinall91

they have urban downhill in europe and other places. The rat race sounds like a fun time

Blazinall91

such as this in Portugal

WannaGetGood

That's cool. That would be fun to watch on T.V.

Blazinall91

probably even more fun to do

Ivan Hanz

I'm not in the Rat Race (80 pounds is pretty steep!-oh yea, and it's about 1500 miles and a large ocean from here)...but my team finished 13th in the Columbus Mad Cow Urban Adventure Race. I've done several of these, they're a lot of fun.

https://ambushadventuresports.com/madcow/madcow06.php[/URL]