Rat Race Nine 2 Five

Introduction to the Rat Race Nine 2 Five


For 2008 we have introduced a new format into the Rat Race for some new city locations. This exciting new format compresses everything you know about the famous Rat Race Weekender into a full 8 hours of challenge and adventure on ONE DAY – Saturday. You can race at the intensity that suits you to beat the clock and the judges on this one. The final result is based on your physical prowess and team tactics! Let us explain a little more....

The day starts with a Mean Streets event, just like in the existing Rat Race Weekender events. Except this is on a Saturday morning and the rest of the event follows in one serving, not split over 2 days. On the Mean Streets section, you run to collect checkpoints and clues on foot for up to one hour, before returning to the event centre and get access to your bikes. Once on the bikes, you have a choice of which order to complete a number of Adventure Destinations Stages, taking you to fantastic parts of the City for Ropes, Boats and other Special Activities. After each stage you return to the event centre to complete a few challenges over your “Working Lunch”. After completing all stages it's back to base once again and it's off on the final whirlwind foot-based stage, like a final Mean Streets “epilogue.” By this time, the City will have changed dramatically since you left it in the morning; you will be amongst shoppers and tourists as you navigate the intricate streets to locate a multitude of hidden checkpoints and more special activities on a Saturday afternoon, until the 8th hour looms. The later you are back to base after 8 hours, the more penalty points you start to accrue, but you can finish well before 8 hours if you wish and take these closing stages at a more leisurely pace! It’s up to you. As you can see, this is a format that will have you guessing where you are going and working the tactics until the end, at the same time as immersing yourself in that great Rat Race spirit and packing in sports such as kayaking, biking, ropework, parkour and navigation into a one day serving.

 

Event village


As with the Weekender events, for all competitors the weekend starts at the Rat Race event village built in the heart of the city (or for Birmingham, at the NEC). The difference is that you will be arriving much earlier than the participants on the first day of the Weekender. In fact, it will be a very early start for most of you as the event itself will START at 0900. Before then, you will have to register and ensure you are all ready for the off. Once you are away, the village will come alive with music and commentary at around midday and you will come back into it at least twice during your adventure. You’ll rub shoulders with your supporters and members of the public at the same time as completing some public-facing challenges. They might be funny, they might be tough - they might be very strange indeed. You will also use the event village as your transition area, where you will 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 Ellis Brigham, 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 village and the Nine 2 Five 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. However, unlike the Weekender events we cannot offer these on the morning of the event, or you would be getting up even earlier! So we are running them the WEEKEND BEFORE the events. There is more info on the respective city sites on how to sign up for these and where they are in the cities. 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. We have also provided you info on suitable places in each city site for you to check out.

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. So GET THERE EARLY! Registration will start at 0600 Saturday. We’ll be there with pens at the ready so don’t worry about being there at 0600 on the dot! You can fill out the medical questionnaire pre-event by printing the form (below). Then on the day, you will need to sign your acceptance of our standard terms and conditions and collect your “dibbers” (electronic timing devices – more on this later). By filling in the medical form pre-event, you will save time as there will be one less queue to stand in. At registration, you will also get your famous Rat Race goody bag with your event shirt, your number and sponsor goodies and souvenirs. This 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


This is where you are given some info on what will happen in the event; but not all the info. The Race Director will address the whole event field at this time and it’s important that everyone 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 does not feature any challenges whatsoever, other than getting there!

Mean Streets “prologue”


The day starts with a Prologue, based on the hugely entertaining Mean Streets format. As with the Weekender events, you will try and collect as many checkpoints (CPs) as you can in this part of the event, which lasts up to an hour. You will then return to the event centre and get access to your bikes and head out onto the “Adventure loops.”


Adventure Loops
Once on the bikes, you have a choice of which order to complete a number of Adventure Destination Stages, known as the Adventure loops. These are based on the same type of racing as the Weekender’s Adventure class Sunday event, insofar as they are linear, involving set routes, possibly with some route choice, but with navigation involved to take you from point to point. These loops will take you to fantastic parts of the City and you will encounter Ropes, kayak stages and other special activities along the way. After completing each loop, it’s back to the event village to complete a few surprise challenges there, in full view of the public. These are your “Working Lunches” where you may rest up a little or decide to head straight back out for more. 

Epilogue
Once you have done all of the loops (there might be 2 or 3 depending on how long they are) then it's back to base to drop the bikes and off for the final whirlwind foot-based stage. By this time, the City will have changed dramatically since you left it in the morning and will be buzzing with early evening revellers, shoppers and tourists; you will be amongst them all as you navigate the streets to locate a multitude of hidden checkpoints and encounter more special challenges, until the 8th hour looms. The later you are back to base after 8 hours, the more penalty points you start to accrue, but you can finish well before 8 hours if you wish and take these closing stages at a more leisurely pace - it’s all up to you.

Nine 2 Five Format Stage Summary – it’s all on the Saturday remember! 
First Stage: Mean Streets Prologue. Up to one hour of navigation running and mini-challenges. Score based checkpoints.
Middle Stages: Adventure Destination Stages. Two or Three 'loop' stages. Time based endurance on the bike, with Special Adventure Activities on route such as kayaking and ropework
Last Stage: Epilogue. Hit as many checkpoint activities as you can until the 8th hour bell tolls!

Scoring & Timing


Your final performance is based on the aggregate times for the Adventure loop stages together with scores (converted into time) from the points based Mean Streets Prologue and Epilogue stages. Our fancy gadgetry and the timing chips you wear on your wrists work it all out for you. Click here for more info on the timing system used in the Rat Race.
As you know, the Rat Race course is kept a secret until the weekend of the event, so we can’t tell you where you will be going or what exactly you will be doing right now. However, we CAN tell you a little about the distances involved and some key components of the event.

Core components of the Nine 2 Five

Mean Streets prologue: Checkpoint hunting for up to 1 hour; teams will cover between 2km and 8km on foot depending on how fast they are travelling
Biking: Total of around 50km 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 Adventure loop stages.

Ropework: Some people think this is what really sets the Rat Race apart from anything else – 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. Previous events have seen zip wires into city squares and abseils off famous stadiums; airy traverses of railway bridges and scrambling up city crags or walls. 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. These are very popular for confidence building pre-event. 

Navigation: Not to be feared! There is info here on the navigation we feature in the event. 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 insult.” We’ve even had teams perform live at a major music festival in front of 1000s. All between bouts of biking, hiking, abseiling and kayaking. It all lies between you and the finish…

Approximate distances
For the full event you should plan for the following distances, as a guide (if you complete the full course):
• Biking - 50 km max depending on city layout and gradients, plus loop distances, and loops completed.
• Foot - (walking or running) 15 km (not all in one go) and to a certain degree up to you, depending on how fast and how therefore how far you go
• Kayaking - 2 km maximum

What you get for your money

• Entry to the one and only Rat Race Urban Adventure
• Professionally planned course
• Rat Race Special Edition Buff headwear 
• Rat Race Special Edition Race Shirt
• Rat Race goody bag
• 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
• High value prizes
• Secure bike storage at the event village
• Event village entertainment

All at £79 per person regular rate!

Nine 2 Five timeline


Here’s a guide to the times things happen on the Nine 2 Five events. This might vary slightly from location to location and you should check on the city pages for info on timings at respective events.
Saturday
• 0600 Registration opens
• 0815 Registration closes
• 0830 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

There are 2 ways you can enter the Nine 2 Five events – as pairs or as teams of three. You can earn points towards the Rat Race Series championship if you are a MIXED TEAM OF THREE. Then there are classes for mixed and single sex teams in pairs and teams of 3.

All competitors must be over 16. Those aged 16 and 17 must provide written parental/ guardian consent of their participation. 

Prize categories:
• Rat Race Series prize:  3 Event UK Race Series. Only mixed teams of 3 eligible 
• Mixed Team 1st – 3rd:   Awarded per event
• Mixed Pair 1st – 3rd:  Awarded per event
• Best all Male team:   Awarded per event
• Best all Female team:   Awarded per event
• Best Male Pair:  Awarded per event
• Best Female Pair:  Awarded per event
• Spirit of the Event:   Awarded to the team who has shown the most courage, kindness or pure bare faced cheek out there on the course!
• Best Youth team or pair:  For teams with 2 or more participants aged 16 or 17 on the day of the race; awarded per event for pair OR winning team

Summary


Nine 2 Five Event: £79 per person @ regular price/team of 3 and £84 per person @ regular price/pair
Teams of three or pairs: reasonable fitness : 16+ : Saturday only
Includes:
Full 8 hour day of adventure including biking, ropework, kayaking, foot travel, parkour and navigation
ANYONE can take part over the age of 16 (subject to general fitness requirements) and any team will have equal chance to shine on the differing activities in the course.
All Rat Racers get automatic entry and guests to the Rat Race parties and all the featured goodies and noted inclusions above come with entry too.