UP to 900 runners took part in the inaugural Glasgow Riverside Rat Race, a 10km urban adventure run with challenges along the banks of the Clyde, on Sunday 21 August.
First past the finish line was Chris Hinds from Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, who completed the course in 47 minutes and one second.
Sarah Juggins from Cambridge took first place in the woman’s race in an incredible 53 minutes and 50 seconds, almost eight minutes ahead of her closest rival, putting her in fifth place overall.
Chris Hinds said: “It was a brilliant course. I am really chuffed to have won.
“The race was great fun with quite a few adventures along the way. I had a couple of stumbles early on over at Festival Park and took a bit of a tumble.
“I found the inflatable hurdles quite a challenge, head planting over every one; and crawling under the cargo net through the snow was tough but quite refreshing after five kilometeres.
“Jumping off the Tall Ship Glenlee was a real buzz. I couldn’t have asked for any more in a race, fantastic!”
The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race was a 10km running way-marked journey along the north and south banks of the Clyde.
The route stretched from the event hub at the new Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum as far as the city centre and back. I
t also took in some of the city’s many stunning and well-known riverside landmarks including the Glasgow Science Centre, The Clyde Auditorium – ‘The Armadillo’, The Finnieston Crane and the ‘Squinty’ and ‘Squiggly’ bridges.
To make it more interesting and fun runners had to cope with a number of adventure activities, obstacles and challenges based alongside, near or in the river.
These included running up and down the circular steps at the foot of the Glasgow Science Centre, leaping over some giant inflatable hurdles, kayaking in the Clyde at the ‘Squiggly’ Bridge, crawling through Snow under a cargo net, walking knee deep in water under the Squinty Bridge, tackling an obstacle course under the Finnieston Crane, swimming and then jumping off the Tall Ship Glenlee.
Before runners could finish, they had to scale a tough slippery wall in front of the majestic Riverside Museum.
Rat Race Adventure Sports teamed up with the city of Glasgow to bring this exciting open urban adventure run to the River Clyde as a flagship event, among other launch and seasonal events, to coincide with the opening year of the Riverside Museum.
Jim Mee, MD of Rat Race Adventure Sports, said: “The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race was an amazing success.
“We had an excellent turn out of almost 900 runners, with elite athletes competing alongside fun runners who were raising money for many different charities.
“There was great camaraderie amongst rat racers on the course particularly at the kayaking activity when single runners had to team up together.
“Having the event hub at the new Glasgow Riverside Museum, combined with great weather and a huge turn out of supporters and spectators created a wonderful family atmosphere at the start and finish.
“We hope to be back next year.”
The Glasgow Riverside Rat Race was filmed for a Channel 4 adventure programme to be broadcast at 7am on Sunday 4 September.
It will ensure images of Glasgow’s rich cultural and maritime heritage reach viewers across the UK, allowing people to see the ongoing transformation of the city’s riverfront as an area to be enjoyed, explored and celebrated.
Rat Race Adventure Sports designs and operates among the UK’s largest ranges 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.
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Media contact:
Paddy Cuthbert – Podge Publicity – T: 07968 699636 / E: paddy@podge.co.uk
Images from the Glasgow Riverside Rat Race are available from http://www.snspix.com or by contacting the SNS picture desk directly – 0141 241 6178
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 opened to the public on June 21st, 2011. Riverside Museum: Scotland’s Museum of Travel and Transport will be home to about 3,000 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 recognised as a Scottish Charity SC 033286.
Rat Race Adventure Sports – www.ratraceadventure.com
From city to summit, Rat Race Adventure Sports 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 and18 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 2 days and featuring running, biking and kayaking. The Mighty Deerstalker (19 March 2011) sees 2500 Tweed-clad runners scale mountains in the Borders and the brand new Glasgow Riverside Rat Race will see thousands 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: 07968699636
Email: paddy@podge.co.uk
Website: http://www.ratraceadventure.com/glasgow/
