Adventure racing round-up

THE fittest mountain bikers are increasingly turning to endurance events as a way to let off steam.

And Scotland’s natural beauty, its mountains, lochs, glens, forests and coastline make it a natural home for Adventure Racing and Mountain Biking.

Increasingly, Scotland is hosting a range of national and international events. Last year the Fort William area played host to the Adventure Racing World Championships and a few weeks ago, the Mountain Bike World Cup.

What is adventure racing?

Adventure racing is an endurance sport involving more than one sporting discipline. These events can involve running, trekking, swimming, canoeing or mountain biking. They require a degree of navigation skills and usually involve getting over, under or around what are usually interesting, if not challenging, obstacles.

Hebridean Challenge
One of the best known adventure races in Scotland is the week long Hebridean Challenge.

It involves a 700km route across the islands or the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, which sounds utterly terrifying to anyone not used to this sport. Participants have to run, trek, cycle, swim and canoe from the southern to the northern islands across wild, remote and beautiful countryside. The 2008 is currently taking pace and you can find race reports on the Sleep Monsters website. The site gives a really good idea of what you would be in for.

Stathpuffer 24
A popular long distance mountain bike race is the Stathpuffer 24 which claims to be the world’s only winter 24 hour race with 17 hours of the race taking part in darkness. The event which takes place in Strathpeffer near Dingwall is held in January and competitors can expect tough weather conditions including ice and snow. Just in case you needed something worse...

Mighty Deerstalker
If you are a bit of an owl and like the idea of competing in the dark, then the Mighty Deerstalker is another Scottish event that might appeal. Held in the Tweed Valley in the Borders region, this night time event requires a head torch. This 10 km run starts at twiglight and sees runners negotiating a challenging course complete with rocks and scree as well as obstacles such as water jumps, log balance bars, prickly tunnels and cargo nets. Apparently, the lead runner upon reaching the high point of the course has to light a firework on top of the mountain to let the spectators waiting at the finish that the runners are now homeward bound. The course takes between 90 minutes to 4 hours to complete.

Dirty Weekend
The Dirty Weekend might be more your bag. It takes place this coming weekend and features running, mountain biking, canoeing and orienteering. The Saturday programme is full of adventure activities followed by a short night navigation stage. After a night under canvas Sunday’s activities include running, biking, kayaking and rope work, all connected by your own navigational talents.

Rat Race
For those that prefer the city to the great outdoors and a hotel to a tent, there are races like the Edinburgh leg of the Rat Race. The Edinburgh Rat Race takes place in July as well. The race starts at 5.00pm on a Saturday evening and involves three hours of running or walking around the city hunting for check points. The Saturday evening of urban orienteering is followed by a Sunday of adventure activities involving cycling, running and ropes. The Rat Race courses are kept secret until the start on the Saturday evening and Sunday’s course map is the reward for completing the “mean streets” section.

See Planet Fear for more
Breaksweat is the source of a good range of information and the compilation of events featured here
Merseyventure does a round up of other adventure races
Or check out the google directory for more