City News

Birmingham is preparing to be infested with adventure racers as the ‘Rat Race’ returns to the city in 2009.  The team-based event will see the city transformed into an urban sports playground as racers are challenged to take part in a range of physical and mental activities including running, mountain biking, abseiling, climbing and kayaking.

The Birmingham event, which takes place over a weekend, on 30th and 31st May, will be the first of an 8-date UK race summer series that will also take in Brighton, Bristol, Sheffield, Gateshead/Newcastle, London, Belfast and Edinburgh.

Saturday’s “Mean Streets” is billed as ‘the team running event with bite’.  It is designed predominantly as a running (or walking) event and is open to competitors of all abilities. Participants will have 3 hours to hunt for up to 25 checkpoints hidden all over the city centre.   Sunday is a bike-based adventure that takes teams further out towards the city limits and encompasses more overt adventure pursuit, such as kayaking, abseiling and navigation.

In the 2008 Birmingham Rat Race the activities included abseiling at St Andrew's stadium, a muddy romp through the Land Rover test track at Solihull, kayaking on the canals at Brindley Place, a monster stair climb to the top of the Radisson Hotel and a surreal adventure under Spaghetti Junction.

This year’s races will start and finish in a specially constructed adventure village in the heart of the city at Centenary Square.  The event village features well-earned food and drink for competitors and spectators alike, alongside live music plus adventure exhibits and activities for the public to try their hand at.

There is a 150ft (50m) crane for members of the public to experience the thrill of abseiling.  The crane will be situated in the event village will give people the chance to tower over the midlands skyline with a photographer on hand to record their efforts for posterity.  The activity costs £25 and anyone interested can register at www.ratraceadventure.com to take part.

Jim Mee, MD of event organisers Detail Events commenting on Birmingham’s suitability to hold the event said;  “Birmingham has the perfect infrastructure to hold a Rat Race. As well as a number of unusual spots and classic venues, Birmingham is a very green city with plenty of parks. Of course there are miles and miles of canals too, which are great for this sort of activity.  Our planners are already working on the course and it will be significantly different to last year so anyone who took part in last year’s race shouldn’t think that they know what to expect!”

Dave Hodgson, marketing director, Marketing Birmingham, commented: “The Rat Race is a great way of showcasing everything that the city has to offer and also perhaps puts a new face on the city for people who live and work here.  The race is going to involve some really iconic spots and proves to people who live in the city that there is a natural and man-made environment for adventure.”