Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June 2009 @ Bristol

We were all grinning by now. One of our competitors - a strapping 30-something bloke - audaciously pulled his shorts down, enabling the marshall to spread a slick of hot wax on his sweaty butt crack and instantly whip off a strip of damp bum fluff!

This constituted just one moment of madness in the 2008 Rat Race series - a genre of adventure racing which uses the urban environment as its showground. Once a year, the Rat Race comes to Bristol – one of eight British cities that see an annual rat infestation of the most hardcore breeds – and in previous Junes gone by, you may have seen teams of three running, biking or kayaking through the city possibly looking a bit lost, possibly wearing tutus…! But if that sounds a bit tame and not worthy of the term ‘hardcore’, that’s probably because you will have missed out on seeing everything in between and because you’ll have been unaware (until now) of the mammoth distance that these rats have to cover to stay in the game.

The event kicks off at 5pm on the Saturday evening from which time teams have three hours to navigate their way to as many checkpoints scattered around our sprawling city and collect as many points as possible. So in essence it is a half marathon with a map and a hell of a lot else in between! It’s at the checkpoints where the fun really starts as various activities may need to be completed in order to obtain the points. These range from parkour, ballet, gymnastics, swimming, more orienteering, BMXing, climbing, high-ropes courses, kayaking AND SO MUCH MORE!

The starter horn intrusively blows again at 7.30am the following Sunday morning and rats are sent on their way once more. Last year we were sent off on a ‘short’ orienteering run around Brandon Hill before biking the rest of the day. Having pedalled for some way up the Bristol-Bath Railway Path and veered off for some mandatory orienteering in Stoke Park, the route took us up into Bristol’s most northerly suburb, Bradley Stoke, over to Cribbs Causeway and then all the way back down into Ashton Court. We then had to negotiate the Timberland Trail before hurtling back towards the finish line on the waterfront. In between times we had hopped off the bikes and into kayaks where our navigational exploits were tested on water and been up into the rafters of the Bristol City football stadium! Did I mention the bungee run, the climbing wall or the Smart Car pushing?

At £99 per person, this seemingly hefty entrance fee may put you off but for such a knackering but fantastically fun weekend which ran incredibly smoothly considering its complexity, the experience was well worth the money. I don’t think I’ll ever bother with a Half Marathon again!

The Rat Race is an adventure race which demands a sense of humour alongside strong physical and mental stamina (as the distances covered can be anywhere from 60km-80km over the whole weekend) and an adventurous, challenge hungry spirit. Would suit adrenalin junkies and lunatics alike!

Want to get ratted? This year the event is being held in Bristol on 27/28 June.

www.ratraceadventure.com

Fran McElhone