Photo and Interview opportunities for The Ultra Tour of Edinburgh
On Sunday 22 October 2017 Rat Race Adventure Sports will stage the inaugural Ultra Tour of Edinburgh, a 34.2 mile ultra distance run in the Scottish capital; a tough, fully waymarked, mixed terrain route of tarmac and off-road trail running, with 3000 feet of ascent and descent.
You are invited to send a camera crew / photographer / reporter to various stunning locations on the 55km route (see below) where 500 runners from all over the UK will take on an achievable ultra distance challenge (but will have just ten hours to complete the course). Members of the Rat Race Adventure Sports team will also be available for interview at various points during the day.
What
The Ultra Tour of Edinburgh (UTE) is an iconic running journey round Edinburgh, from the Braveheart charge down the Royal Mile at 07.30 on Sunday morning to the finish at Murrayfield Stadium (from 11.25 onwards). Runners will travel through the streets, alleyways and parklands of the city centre, onto hills, up crags, along rivers and canals and past monuments, museums, seats of Royalty and Government; from the occasional sojourn totally off road to enjoy the hill top views of the Pentland Hills to the coastal waters and harbours of Newhaven and Leith in the east.
For event launch press release go to: Event launch press release
The UTE is the ultimate guided tour of the city that showcases hugely evocative locations and historic and iconic landmarks, the rich urban heritage of the city centre and the stunning wilderness environment of the outlying countryside.
When
Sunday 22 October 2017
(For the most accurate timings see spectator guide containing route map with locations – and postcodes – and timings for first and last runner expected –SpectatorGuide_V4)
Where
- Start at 07:30 from St Giles Cathedral – with a massed Braveheart style charge down the Royal Mile (closed to traffic) to The Scottish Parliament, The Palace of Holyroodhouse and into Holyrood Park
- Climb the Radical Road, a steep rocky path at the edge of the Salisbury Crags set against the backdrop of Arthur’s Seat with stunning views across Edinburgh
- The Commonwealth Pool and the Innocent Railway Tunnel
- Craigmillar Castle Park – running past the castle
- Blackford Hill and the Royal Observatory
- Pentland Hills, summiting three Pentland hills – Caerketton, Allermuir and Capelaw
- The Water of Leith
- Past Edinburgh Zoo
- Corstorphine Hill
- Granton / Newhaven Harbour
- Ocean Terminal
- Leith
- New Town / Stockbridge / Dean Village
- Finish pitch-side at Murrayfield Stadium. First runner expected 11.25 (17.20 last runner expected / cut off 17.30)
For spectators
The Ultra Tour of Edinburgh also provides a perfect opportunity for spectators and supporters to take on this special tour of Edinburgh as they follow the runners round. They will be able to visit some of the key tourist sites and attractions on the route in between cheering their participating friends and family on their way.
Media contact
Paddy Cuthbert | Littlehouse Media | E: [email protected]
M: +44 (0)7913 951717
Notes to Editors:
YouTube preview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw5fzn0eiUY
The Route – http://ratrace.com/ute/the-route/
The Website – http://ratrace.com/ute/
Rat Race Adventure Sports on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ratraceadventuresports
Rat Race Adventure Spots on Twitter – https://twitter.com/RatRaceHQ
Rat Race Adventure Sports
Rat Race Adventure Sports is the UK’s best-known adventure sports event organiser. The company was forged on the streets of Edinburgh in 2004 with the staging of their first ever event – The Edinburgh Rat Race. It brought adventure racing into an urban environment and gave spectators a fantastic and thrilling event to watch. It is to their spiritual home that 13 years on they are bringing a traditionally wilderness discipline, the ultra run, into an urban environment with The Ultra Tour of Edinburgh.
Rat Race Rat Race Adventure Sports spawned the popularity in and enthusiasm for accessible mass participation multisport / endurance adventure events in both urban and wilderness environments. They now offer the largest selection of mass participation, wilderness adventure challenges in Britain, together with an online clothing and equipment store.
50% of their event business is carried out in Scotland. The event programme has always been focused on Scotland – urban and wilderness playgrounds of the highest quality.
Ultra Tour of Edinburgh Event Quotes:
Jim Mee, Managing Director of Rat Race Adventure Sports:
- “Edinburgh is one of the few cities in the UK where you can stage the perfect urban ultra run. It allows for a multi terrain journey through the city that includes historic urban landscapes and evocative landmarks together with parks, hills, rivers, cycleways, old railway tunnels, canals and coastal waters. It truly is a tour-de-force of World renowned Edinburgh sightseeing all wrapped up into an ultra distance running format.”
- “Unlike other more extreme wilderness ultra marathons the Ultra Tour is a fully waymarked and fully supported event that both starts and finishes in the centre of the city, making it extremely accessible for both runners and spectators.”
Stewart Caithness, the race director and course designer for The Ultra Tour of Edinburgh:
- “The Ultra Tour is a manageable step up from a marathon distance into ultra-running territory, even for those graduating from 10 mile, half marathon or even longer distance multisport and obstacle events. However, you must bear in mind that this is Edinburgh; the route includes 3000 feet of tough ascent and descent. Safe to say the majority who have prepared well, put in the training miles and who run the route at a slow, steady pace throughout should do very well, completing the course well within the 10 hours we have allowed.”
- “We have purposely designed the Ultra Tour route with relatively few miles being run on the main road. Instead the route uses parkland, cycle ways, hill tracks, riverside trails and canal towpaths. It highlights to both visitors and those who already live here just how well connected the city is when escaping public roads, a fantastic and easily navigated network that I have explored and enjoyed over the years as a resident of the city.”
- “Edinburgh is hauntingly beautiful, rugged and famous in equal measure. It offers a completely engaging running experience, an exciting city adventure, with stunning views and sights round ever corner on ever-changing terrain. Where better to try your first ultra distance run?”
