The Edinburgh Rat Race is a unique multi-disciplined team adventure challenge of navigation, endurance, mental agility, running, climbing, mountain biking, kayaking and abseiling, combined with surreal sporting tests and obstacles at different checkpoints across some of the city’s most challenging terrain; on a course that is only revealed hours before the event begins. 

In the past checkpoint challenges have included haggis eating, ‘dooking’ for apples, extreme hair makeovers, water polo, wheelchair rugby, space hopper racing, BMX riding, free running, shopping trolley racing, exercise classes, chasing the bride, obstacle courses and navigating through a 30-metre long dark tunnel. 

In 2010 up to 600 athletes, elite adventure racers, adrenaline junkies and ‘amateur sporting enthusiasts’, will compete (in pairs and teams of three) alongside one another as they use Edinburgh’s urban jungle and surrounding countryside as the ultimate adventure playground. 

The routes of the Edinburgh Rat Race are kept confidential until the event starts, as navigation and orienteering are key elements of the event. However the course Planning Manager Stewart Caithness promises to take full advantage of Edinburgh’s stunning architecture, labyrinthine streets and rugged terrain, including urban structures, office blocks, tunnels parklands, hills, water and sand in the city centre and beyond.

More at www.ratraceadventure.com