GLASGOW is gearing up for the first Glasgow Riverside Rat Race this summer and organisers are looking for around 1,000 ‘up for it’ competitors to get involved.
Rat Race Adventure Sports has teamed up with the city of Glasgow to bring the exciting open urban adventure run to the River Clyde on Sunday 21 August 2011, and announces celebrity ambassadors Nieve Jennings – singer, actress and former Miss Scotland and Miss UK – and Dean Macey, ex Olympic and Commonwealth Games Gold medal-winning decathlete, to encourage runners from all over the UK to sign up for this fun, healthy and above all – achievable – challenge.
The new Glasgow Riverside Rat Race is a 10km running (or walking) way-marked journey along the banks of the Clyde, interspersed with adventure activities, obstacles and challenges based alongside, near or in the river; and taking in some of the city’s many stunning and well known riverside landmarks.
Rat Race ambassador, Dean Macey, who will also present the Channel 4 TV coverage of the event to be shown later in the year, said: “The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race has been designed for anyone with reasonable fitness to take part in.
“Like other Rat Race events, we want adrenaline junkies and ‘amateur sporting enthusiasts’ with a sense of adventure, a head for heights, and a love of water to compete alongside one another.
“Whether you are a runner or a walker you should enter now and get ahead with some quality training.
“You will have a truly unforgettable experience in Glasgow.”
Organisers, Rat Race Adventure Sports, are expecting 1,000 entrants to sign up to run, splash, jump, kayak and climb their way along a truly unique course, stretching into Glasgow’s city centre before winding its way back along the river to the new Riverside Museum – the finish and main event hub.
Competitors will experience the Clyde and some of its most iconic landmarks in some very unusual ways as they complete a number of special water and shore based activities en route.
Once finalised, the route and challenges could see runners climbing up the Finnieston Crane, exploring the Squinty Bridge from a Kayak, taking a dip into Princes Dock or even walking the plank of the Tall Ship Glenlee.
Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race is the kind of exciting, dynamic event that the city is now renowned for.
“With the start and finish at our wonderful new Riverside Museum, and some well-known landmarks along the way, I’m sure the race will be a spectacular success.
“The people of Glasgow have a solid reputation for participation in sporting events, and I’m confident that this race will prove to be another popular offering in our world-class events programme.
“It’s also wonderful to see the River Clyde being used in an innovative and creative way, something that the investment at Riverside has greatly encouraged. This adventurous race will allow people to see the river in a new and exciting light – as an asset to be enjoyed, explored, and celebrated.”
The Glasgow River Rat Race is open to individuals (with a reasonable level of fitness) and teams and costs £35 / person to enter. Runners must be 16 years-old or over on the day of the race.
For more information on The Glasgow River Rat Race, and to enter go, to: www.ratraceadventure.com
Nieve Jennings said: “I’m really looking forward to taking part in The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race. It is going to be a fantastic event, a 10k adventure run with some really exciting wet and wild challenges all along the route.
“It is the perfect event for encouraging Glasgow’s residents and visitors to get active whilst having a great time in the process. It is also a really effective and unusual way of promoting the fabulous new Riverside Museum, the Clyde and some of the city’s other iconic landmarks.”
Rat Race Adventure Sports is presenting the Glasgow Riverside Rat Race as a flagship event among other launch and seasonal events to coincide with the opening year of the new Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum.
Rat Race Adventure Sports designs and operates the UK’s largest range of adventure events. The team organises up to 30 events annually, staged in urban and rural locations across the UK and abroad; offering formats that feature off-road running, biking, kayaking and roped pursuits. Like the Glasgow Riverside Rat Race, the events are renowned for being unique, memorable, achievable and adventurous.
ENDS
Media contact:
Paddy Cuthbert – Podge Publicity – T: 07968 699636 / E: paddy@podge.co.uk
Images of Nieve Jennings and Dean Macey launching the Glasgow Riverside Rat Race at the Riverside Museum are available.
Notes to editors:
The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race – www.ratraceadventure.com/glasgow
The Rat Race Adventure Sports team has partnered with the city of Glasgow and Glasgow Life, the charity that runs the new Riverside Museum, to create an urban adventure running race on Sunday 21 August 2011. It features a 10km route along the banks of the River Clyde broken up with adventure activities and challenges alongside, in or on the river itself.
Everyone will complete the same 10km route and all of the activities are achievable and require no special skills. Kayaks, buoyancy aids and any safety equipment required will be provided.
Cost to enter – £35 each
Age limit – 16 on the day of the event
Course map – http://www.ratraceadventure.com/glasgow/course.html
The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race is one of three events in The 2011 Urban Rat Race Series. The other events include Teesside (Sunday 28 August) and the two day London Rat Race ‘Capital Capers’ (Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September).
Glasgow’s Riverside Museum – www.glasgowmuseums.com/riverside
The Riverside Museum and The Tall Ship Glenlee opens to the public at 10am on June 21st, 2011. Riverside Museum: Scotland’s Museum of Travel and Transport will be home to about 3000 exhibits (double the number at the old Museum of Transport at Kelvin Hall) set in around 150 distinct story displays. The building was designed by architect, Zaha Hadid.
The £74million museum will be managed by charity Glasgow Life, and has been funded by Glasgow City Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Riverside Museum Appeal (www.riversideappeal.org), a charitable trust established to raise £5 million in sponsorship and donations from companies, trusts and individuals for the development of the new Riverside Museum. To date, it has raised £4.2 million. The Riverside Museum Appeal Trust is recognized as a Scottish Charity SC 033286.
Rat Race Adventure Sports – www.ratraceadventure.com
From city to summit, Rat Race Adventure Sports (previously Detail Events) offers the UK’s largest range of adventure events to try and the very best range of adventure gear to buy.
The company was set up by ex-Red Bull events specialist Jim Mee in 2004 and its first event was the innovative Edinburgh Urban Adventure.
Since then, the brand has grown to encompass some 30 events annually, staged in locations across the UK and abroad and offering formats that feature off-road running, biking, kayaking and roped pursuits. Rat Race’s events are renowned for being unique, memorable, achievable and adventurous.
In Scotland, the Scotland Coast to Coast (17 and 18 September 2011) is the definitive multi-sport journey of the British Isles and was launched in 2010 to a sell-out field. It features a 100-mile course completed over two days and featuring running, biking and kayaking. The Mighty Deerstalker (19 March 2011) sees 2,500 Tweed-clad runners scale mountains in the Borders and the brand new Glasgow Riverside Rat Race will see 1,000s of intrepid Ratfans take the plunge with an adventure set on, around and in the River Clyde itself.
The Rat Race brand today also features a hugely successful online adventure gear store, plus training products such as the award-winning Urban Gym Street Circuits, taking place in both Glasgow and Edinburgh and nationally throughout UK cities.
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Contact: Paddy Cuthbert
Phone: 07968 699636
Email: paddy@podge.co.uk
Website: http://www.ratraceadventure.com/glasgow
