Cool Stuff
OTHER EVENTS TO HELP YOUR TRAINING
Dirty Weekend
ACE Racers and Polaris Challengers will be rubbing shoulders on this epic weekend of adventure multi-sport. You will also meet runners taking part in the Dirty Dozen, an off road 12km run that will run from the same event site. All combined, these 3 events will comprise the Dirty Weekend
ACE RACES:
www.aceraces.com
Now in its 10th year, ACE Races is the most established organizer of Adventure Racing events in the UK. You have a choice of 1-day events (lasting 3-5 hours) or the Dirty Weekend - 2 day event in Scottish Borders.
Polaris Challenge:
www.polarischallenge.com
A cult old-skool mountain bike event with mud, camping, navigation and off-road thrills. The score format is similar to that of the Rat Race Prologue - accumulating as many checkpoints as possible, except the Polaris is on a bike, in the countryside of Wales, Scottish Borders and Lake District - Spring, Summer and Autumn 08.
Raasay Rumble:
www.raasayrumble.com
The Raasay Rumble is a new ten hour mountain bike enduro race that will challenge your prolonged climbing ability and test your technical agility. On Saturday soloists, pairs and teams of three will compete for overall ranking and use their skills to pick up climbing and technical primes along the way.
The Mighty Deerstalkerwww.themightydeerstalker.com
The Deerstalker is a turbo-charged roller coaster of a run. It's fun, it's fast, it's action-packed and it's as tough as you can bear. This is Fun Run meets Fell Race meets Hellrunner meets Tough Guy. It's Rat Race in the countryside and it's much more besides.
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FURTHER REFERENCE SITES
www.sleepmonsters.co.uk - the Rat Race's official web partner - has everything you've ever needed to know about adventure racing, and even if you're the ultimate armchair athlete, the detailed event reports, news sections and bustling forums are enough to keep you feeling adrenaline fuelled and ready for action.
www.runningcoop.co.uk runningcoop is a group of runners who have found a way to get the best value for money on kit. They only feature products that they directly recommend, based on their experience and knowledge, and they also receive and review products from suppliers
www.born2run.co.uk: Combining sports diary, online entry system and results service, this is a really handy service for competitors across Scotland, with a brilliant race diary.
www.ParkourEvents.com - ParkourEvents will be organising stuff for the Traceurs from Edinburgh Parkour and will be back to set some of the hottest parts of the Rat Race Mean Streets Prologue challenges, as well as bouncing all over the event villages like beans escaped from a bean bag. Last year's PK demos were awesome so we expect another big hit this year. In the meantime if you want to get involved, check the local Edinburgh Parkour website www.ed-pk.com, and their hotlinks to other PK forums around the UK.
www.nopesport.com - Nopesport.com provides news, reviews, event details and training guideance for orienteering and the [nope] cartel who run the site often have a hand in some of the map based challenges faced in the Rat Race. Links to clubs around the country and an active forum for asking advice will help you find your way when faced with a map during the Rat Race.
www.thebmc.co.uk - if you want to find a club, climbing wall or routes near you, visit the British Mountaineering Council's web portal. Remember that learning to use ropes and harnesses in advance of the Rat Race will help you hugely on the day.
www.playak.com - the kayaker's online bible. Use it to find some great spots to practice, good kit to hire, and learn to love the sport in advance of the Rat Race. Remember for the Rat Races themselves we provide buoyancy aids, paddles and kayaks. You only need your helmet.
www.mountainbikerider.co.uk - nice online magazine with route index, event calendars, general tips. Also check out www.bikemagic.com, www.mbuk.com and www.singletrackworld.com
