Rat Race Nine 2 Five

Introduction to the Rat Race Nine 2 Five
The Nine 2 Five sees you take on a multi-sport adventure challenge course lasting up to 8 hours around the city. You choose how much you will do, but unlike the Mean Streets where there is more of a guided ‘spinal’ route with ‘satellite’ checkpoint options for those that want to grab them. The main route also has short cuts and options devised to have you exploring the city and sometimes beyond

  • Core components of the Nine 2 Five
  • Event Village
  • Refresher courses
  • Registration
  • The Briefing
  • What you get for your money
  • Nine 2 Five timeline
  • Team Composition
  • Age Limits
  • Prize Categories

Core components of the Nine 2 Five

Biking: Total of around 65km between all adventure “loops”; on-road and off-road. This is the main discipline that will “link” the various components of the course within the Nine 2 Five.

Ropework: Some people think this is what really sets the Rat Race apart from other adventure challenges – the ability to clamber all over buildings and structures with ropes. It’s exciting, exhilarating and gives great views of the city you are travelling around. And it’s the sort of thing you would get arrested for if you tried it without us! We will always give you at least one section and sometimes more. Remember there is the refresher course for those who those want to blow out the cobwebs.

Kayaking: We use our own fleet of boats which are robust, safe and easy to paddle. They are sit-on-top style and are ideal boats for various types of water. You might be paddling on city docks, on rivers, canals or even on the Sea in some coastal cities. You will always be under the watchful eyes of our safety crews and you will have all the equipment provided. We tend to set fairly basic kayak challenges as the standards of paddling generally are fairly (ahem) mixed! Don’t worry if you aren’t the best paddlers and remember there is always the refresher course to brush up on your skills.

Navigation: Not to be feared! Suffice to say that most is done on A-Z maps. We might give you some other navigation challenges along the route, such as orienteering with special maps in city parks, or navigation with aerial photos. These will vary from event to event. You CAN practise navigation.

Special activities: This could literally mean anything. We have sent people underground into caves to navigate in pitch darkness; we have given people wigs and microphones and asked them to perform on stage in front of an audience; we have had teams looking for ghostly monks in a castle and have defended ourselves with flour bombs from teams “laying siege” to a fortified island. People have been buried in sand, navigated the aisles of shopping centres, rode bikes over parked cars and through big trucks and some have encountered the legendary Rat Race slippery wall – sometimes featured immediately before the finish line as the “final hurdle.” We’ve even had teams perform live at a major music festival in front of 1000s.

Approximate distances
For the full Nine 2 Five you should plan for the following distances, as a guide (if you complete the full course):
• Biking - 65 km approx depending on city layout and gradients.
• Foot - (walking or running) 5 km (not all in one go) and to a certain degree up to you
• Kayaking - 1.5 km approx

 

Event village
As with the Weekender and Mean Streets, for all competitors the weekend starts at the Rat Race event village built in the heart of the city. Once you are away racing, the village will come alive with music and commentary at around midday and you will come back into it at least once during your adventure race. You will also use the event village as your transition area, where you might switch from bikes to foot stages and so on throughout the day. When all is said and done and you finally cross the finish line later in the day, you can browse the adventure concessions, including purchasing a few treats from the Rat Race store, or maybe see some cool stunt-riding from our mountain bike trials team and listen to the bands. We’ll have catering there for you too, so you can buy some piping hot post-race fare to rejuvenate you for the party ahead. There’s always a great atmosphere in the adventure village and the Nine 2 Five urban challenge format allows a massive amount of interaction with the public over the duration of the event together with some classic spectating opportunities for supporters and fellow competitors alike!


Refresher courses
We will be running refresher courses for all those who want them in kayaking and ropework. Remember, these sessions are NOT A TOTAL SUBSTITUTE for prior experience; we ask that you have at least been in a kayak and have at least been on a rope in advance of the event. But you can pick up these skills from any good climbing wall or kayak club in your area. These sessions are run on the Saturday morning (i.e. the day before the Nine 2 Five) so if you want in on the action and you are a Nine 2 Five competitor only, you must turn up on the Saturday morning.

 

Registration
This will be well run and highly organised, but it will be very busy. The last thing you want is to be standing in a queue knowing you still have event preparations to undergo before the start of your Nine 2 Five event. So GET THERE EARLY! Registration will start at 0700 Sunday OR you can register on Saturday. If you are completing the full Weekender (and that means you are doing the Mean Streets too on the Saturday) then you will already have registered on the Saturday. Then on the day, you will:

1) sign your acceptance of our standard terms and conditions
2) collect your “dibbers” (electronic timing devices for adventure racing)
3) receive your Rat Race T-hirt
4) receive your Race number
5) receive a map

The mandatory kit might be checked at Registration, or it might be checked at a random kit check out on the course. So do not cut corners with what you bring. Bring it all.

The Briefing
The Race Director will address the whole event field at this time and it’s important that everyone participating in the Nine 2 Five is there. There will be some safety information and there might be some special instructions that relate directly to that city or the way the race will be run that weekend. Make sure someone brings a notebook and pen, but don’t worry about taking reams of cryptic notes from clues given by the Race Director; this is NOT part of the event and is purely a welcome and safety briefing. It will take place immediately before the start of the event at 9am.

What you get for your money

• Entry to the one and only Rat Race Urban Adventure Nine 2 Five
• Professionally planned course
• Rat Race Special Edition Buff headwear (£11.99 RRP)
• Rat Race Special Edition Race Shirt (£19.99 RRP)
• ALWAYS at least one exhilarating rope-work challenge and sometimes more
• Plastic sit-on top kayaks provided from our own fleet with all buoyancy aids and paddles supplied
• Water safety cover at all water sections
• Professional ropework instructors supervising all ropework locations; thorough pre-event risk assessment of all ropework challenges
• Maps, route-book and all route materials
• Electronic timing chips and personal results print-out (Some events like to charge you extra for these devices – we don’t!)
• Thorough pre-event risk assessment of the entire course and all health and safety criteria met
• Professional event management by adventure challenge specialists
• High value prizes
• Secure bike storage at the event village
• Event village entertainment

All at £69 per person regular rate!

Nine 2 Five timeline
Here’s a guide to the times os what happens on the Nine 2 Five adventure events. This might vary slightly from location to location and we will inform you of any changes prior to the event.

Sunday
• 0700 Registration opens
• 0800 Registration closes
• 0845 Mass briefing to all participants
• 0900 Start
• 1200 Public entertainments commence in the event village
• 1700 Course cut off time – all teams finished
• 1800 Prize-giving at the event village
• 1900 Party
• 2100 Secure bike compound to be cleared


Team Composition

  • pairrOR
  • team of three

You can earn points towards the Rat Race Series championship if you are a MIXED TEAM OF THREE only.

Age limits
All competitors must be over 16. Those aged 16 and 17 must provide written parental/ guardian consent of their participation. Exception is made for the Youth Event in Edinburgh and London where you can be 14 years old. More info on that here.

Prize categories
• Best mixed team: Awarded per event
• Best male team: Awarded per event
• Best female team: Awarded per event


Rat Series Prizes only apply to the Weekender Class

 

Enter Now!