Galway is preparing to be infested with adventure racers as the Rat Race returns. 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 event takes place this weekend. 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 three 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 pursuits, such as kayaking, abseiling, and navigation.
Last year’s Rat Race included abseiling inside Eyre Square Shopping centre, kayaking on the River Corrib, clambering through mud and trees blindfolded in Barna woods and jumping off the Blackrock diving boards on Salthill promenade. This year’s races will start and finish in a specially constructed adventure village in Eyre Square. The event village features food and drink, live music, and adventure exhibits and activities for the public to try. For more information visit: www.ratraceadventure.com
