MOUNTAIN BIKING NEWS ITEM

Edinburgh Rat Race Wraps Up

MONDAY, 21 JULY 2008

Just after 3pm on Sunday, 20 July 2008, Team Aberdeen Asset Management, an elite adventure racing team - from London, Glasgow, and Aberdeen - were the first to cross the finish line of the fifth Edinburgh Rat Race, the flagship of the eight-event Rat Race Urban Adventure Series, to take an extremely close and hard fought victory.

Bruce Duncan from Team Aberdeen Asset Management said: "It was a tough day; a great course but hard work as I had real problems with my knees." Iona Robertson, another member of the team, added: "It was a fantastic race. I am not great on a mountain bike and I really had to push myself every step of the way today. The boys spent the whole race dragging, pushing, and shoving me to get me round – they did a great job!"

The Edinburgh Rat Race is a multi-disciplined team 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. Team Asset Management covered the 90km course over the weekend in 8 hours and 45 minutes, 19 minutes ahead of team Sleepmonsters / Inov-8 (second place) who were only minutes ahead of Clive James meets Ali J (third place) and Monsieur Mangetout.

The Edinburgh Rat Race was divided into two sections. First came the Mean Streets Prologue on Saturday evening, a three-hour running challenge (up to 20km) where teams had to check in to as many checkpoints around the city center as possible. At a selection of these checkpoints, the rats were also required to carry out tasks. These included BMX riding at Transgression Skatepark at Ocean Terminal, challenging the 100-meter record on a space hopper, searching for laundry in a luxury Newhaven apartment, juggling oranges, fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust and even going to the barbers for an eyebrow shave! The Mean Streets Race included all 164 mixed teams of three from the Mean Streets Class and the Adventure Class.

The Adventure Class race took place on Sunday with teams navigating their way round a 70km course of mountain biking, climbing, abseiling, and kayaking, with navigation being a key element to success or failure. Having set off from Edinburgh Castle at 7:30am, the 396 Adventure Class athletes had to complete a quiz in the old town and abseil from a 60-ft. high Bridge into the Waters of Leith before venturing over the Forth Road Bridge - for the first time in the race's history - for a long kayak stage under the Forth Rail Bridge. There was also a space-age orienteering section on Winchburgh Shale Bing as they searched for aliens on the 'Martian' landscape. Other tasks included cycling down a flight or two of steps in the Old Town, bouldering at Ratho International Climbing Center, kayaking on the Union Canal, and even a game of Pool at the Corn Exchange Village.

The Adventure Village saw the people of Edinburgh come out in force to support the racers and enjoy the live music and sports demonstrations at the Ross Bandstand in West Princes Street Gardens.

Jim Mee from Detail Events, founder of the Rat Race Urban Adventure Series, said: "The Edinburgh Rat Race gets better and better each year with this year's new course planner, John Laughlin, really proving his worth. The guys in Team Aberdeen Asset Management have also done amazingly well to take the top spot. It was an extremely close and hard fought race for the top four or five teams. This is a tough event and the competition at the top end is always fierce; a mere 19 minutes splitting the top two teams proves just how close the race really was on Sunday. Edinburgh is always a great place for us to race. It is the home of The Rat Race. Its stunning architecture, elaborate streets, and rugged and diverse terrain and man-made obstacles make it an ideal location for urban adventure racing. The rats will definitely return in 2009!"

The adventure now continues on to Belfast on August 9, Newcastle Gateshead on August 30, Galway on September 6, with the final event of the series taking place in London on September 27 and 28. Visit www.ratraceadventure.com for more information.

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