Edinburgh Rat Race 15/16 July 2006
This is one of the best events I have ever done and definitely the most exciting. Last year I watched the finish of the race in Princes Street gardens and was inspired to do it myself. The main activity is cycling but there are a variety of others which are kept secret till the night before. A team of three is required, including at least one female. Ian was keen, but we had difficulty finding a third person to take up the challenge. At the last minute Lucy, my 19 year old daughter agreed to complete the team.
The event starts at 6pm on Saturday night. Each team is given a list of check points to find around Edinburgh ranging from Ocean Terminal to Arthur seat and as far as Gorgie. The teams have 1 hour to work out a route and decide how many check points they will reach in the 3 hour time limit..We decided to stay around the city centre and target the events with the highest score. This included Ian and Lucy playing a very rough game of wheelchair rugby with experienced players who tackled really violently. I had to traverse a building only holding on to the sculptures on the vertical wall. Other activities were picking up coffee beans with chopsticks in a coffee shop and scarily climbing up an embankment at the Dean Bridge. At 10pm everyone was back in the gardens for food and chat. At this point we were given our route map for the following day. The more competitive teams stayed up till 3am planning their route. We went straight to sleep ready for a 6am start and hoped we could map read on route.
Sunday morning started at 7am with a walk up to the Castle which was the start of the race. This was our sequence of events.
Run from the castle to the gardens then around the gardens to the bikes.
Orienteer around the streets on the bike then cycle to Blackford Quarry. The plan was to abseil down the quarry but unfortunately there was a rave in full flow and the noise worried the organisers enough to allow only one member of the team to abseil. The other two had to climb down holding on to ropes which seemed more dangerous to me.
We then headed on the bikes to The Braids golfing range where we had to hit a distant target with a golf ball. Ian's first ever hit of a golf ball went for miles while Lucy's flew into my stall inches from my head. Eventually Lucy and I hit the target and we moved on.We then headed out to the Pentlands for a gruelling cycle in the midday sun from Dreghorn to Castlelaw. At the top of the hill we had our funniest moment; at least Lucy and I had. Ian spectacularly pitched off his bike into a gorse bush, after his front wheel got stuck in a rut. Several of us had to pull him out. Amazingly he didn’t moan, that was saved for the kayaking.
The hardest bit over, we then enjoyed a cycle through tracks and rivers to Prestonpans for a 3km sea Kayak. This was the most relaxing bit for me as I was in a kayak on my own. Not so for the other two who were in the same kayak, as Ian moaned and worried about sharks and tidal waves. Lucy was overheard saying “just shut up and paddle man.” I kept well away.
The cycle back to the start included stops, to dress up and sing, a rope climb from the Bridges to the Cowgate and an exhausting climb up a greasy slope. It was a great finish running into the gardens to lots of support and I was pleased I had competed and not watched this year.
Report Gillian McKelvie.
Gillian apolgises for the lateness of her report - she only just got the photos back.
