Of course, it should have been obvious. The set of 12 steps located opposite the new Scottish Parliament is perfect for cycling down. So, too, is the long, steep flight behind Warriston’s Close, just off the High Street in Edinburgh. I can’t imagine why I hadn’t thought of tackling them on my pushbike before.
Thanks to a few hours of adventure race training in the heart of the capital, a whole range of challenges opened up: free-climbing Salisbury Crags, kayaking on the Forth estuary and abseiling off an office block.
But would I have ever thought of running from Princes Street Gardens up to Edinburgh Castle while simultaneously counting all the park benches? Or space hopping around an urban obstacle course? Probably not.
These inspired — and sometimes surreal — challenges are the brainchild of Gary Tompsett, a leading light in the adventure race organisation, and have all been part of the wacky Rat Race Urban Adventure Series.
The third Edinburgh Rat Race, taking place next weekend, is set to attract up to 500 entrants — compared with just 300 at the inaugural event — all keen to test their physical and mental wits during the multi-activity race.
Adventure racing can last from a few hours up to a few days, and includes activities such as kayaking, climbing, abseiling, mountain biking and running, as well as some form of navigation, whether in an urban or rural setting. It is also one of the fastest growing sports in Britain.
“The one- and two-day events are gathering pace the quickest,” says Tompsett, 40, from Strathaven in Lanarkshire. “There are new, longer, expedition-style events, such as the Scottish-based Wilderness ARC, that have a dedicated, more aspirational following, as well as the five-day Hebridean Challenge, which is increasingly popular, but these events are more time-consuming and expensive to organise.”
The shorter events are a different story. “From only one event a few years ago, we are now hosting 12 one- and two-day adventure races in Britain, which are mostly held in Scotland. There’s room for further growth too,” says Tompsett, the Rat Race director. “And many more people are taking part because the shorter races require fewer endurance and fitness skills.
“As well as the Edinburgh Rat, there are rat races now in Bristol and Manchester. We also started the Wan Dae series (one-day events) in central Scotland and took over the Polaris Challenge series. We’re launching an event in west Ireland this year and we’re in talks with Scottish Borders Tourism about an adventure race.”
Rob Howard, who runs the adventure racing website www.sleepmonsters.co.uk, confirms the growing popularity of adventure racing. “The shorter adventure races are thriving in the UK, more so than other countries,” he says.
“We have seen a 50% growth in traffic on our website since it started a couple of years ago. This is from people who are likely to be interested in having a go at adventure racing. We have 10,000 members globally and this is growing at a rate of seven to eight people each day. According to our recent survey, almost a quarter of members are women.”
But these adventure races are hardly, ahem, very ladylike, are they? Cycling down a short flight of stairs is all very well, but negotiating dark, dank tunnels beneath the streets, or tackling a 6ft-high margarine wall, for example — aren’t these best left to the testosterone-fuelled, highly competitive and sweaty guys? Not according to the statistics. In 2004, the first Edinburgh Rat Race attracted 115 females, last year the figure was 156 and this year it’s 195. “The fastest rising figure is the number of all-female teams,” says Rebecca McPherson, the Rat Race entries manager.
Take the 2006 Bristol Rat Race: female competitors rose from 94 last year to 116 this year and fourth place overall was taken by the all-female Team Columbia Salt (Scottish adventure ladies team). The next single-gender team was all-male and came in 23rd.
“This was the best result in the UK ever for an all-female team,” says Tompsett. “The ladies bring a whole other dynamic to adventure racing. I’m proud of the fact that when we started organising adventure races we actively encouraged teams to include at least one female. In fact, to be eligible for one of the top three prizes, the team must include a woman.”
Rob Priestly, a 31-year-old Glaswegian adventure race veteran, says the mix of men and women is successful. “The teams that do well in any kind of adventure racing are the ones with a clever woman on board,” he says.
“Teams often have male egos to cope with. Men are also less likely to say when they are having difficulties and this can lead to serious problems if they suddenly fade. In most events, especially the longer ones, you have to race smart. Women tend to have better stamina, cope better mentally and can endure pain. So after a few days, when both men and women are tiring physically, the women have an advantage mentally.”
Anna Sloan, a Cambridge graduate and member of Salt, agrees. “I wouldn’t say an all- female team is the ideal. A good adventure race team has to have well-matched members in terms of physical and mental ability.
“These endurance races can be quite an even playing field for both men and women because each has different strengths.”
Sloan, an Edinburgh-based investment analyst, adds: “At the Bristol Rat Race we were three women who worked very well together and were a similar speed. That really paid off.”
Dr Niall MacFarlane, a senior sports science lecturer at Glasgow University, believes that women sometimes have the edge because of their famed ability to multitask. “There are some men who will have a gung-ho attitude to racing and think they can get through, whatever their training, or they can be more focused on their physical performance than on the team dynamics. Women, in contrast, will have likely trained harder because they do not want to let the team down. Anecdotal evidence points to females being better at cognitive tasks when under stress.
“There’s also the theory about multitasking. This has to be good in events where there is map reading, speedwork, nutrition and different characters involved.”
Sloan, 25, adds: “It’s too much to say that women are better at adventure racing. It’s more that they achieve results in a different way. A good team, whatever the gender mix, will recognise and include all the various physical and mental dynamics required to make it through to the finish.”
As for my adventure racing career, I must admit I carried my bike down the steep, scary steps and I could not contemplate abseiling from the city centre buildings. But if anyone is looking for a fast-running strategy queen to join their rat race team,
I could be their woman.
