Event Format

MH Survival is a high-octane urban-based running event with obstacles designed to keep you on your toes. The Survival of the Fittest course will take you from the Start Line in the hustle and

bustle of the event village onto an unforgiving 10km course* interspersed with obstacles every kilometre.** You may negotiate urban and rural landscapes throughout your travels on the course, armed for unexpected twists and turns at every corner. Train hard, front up and come and tackle the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest. Race solo and enjoy the camaraderie of the route, the pain of the burn and the challenge of our gruelling and engaging obstacles. This is a unique format which will challenge both seasoned runners and rookie challengers alike. Open to male and female competitors, we offer solo entry in male, female and mixed categories. Excellent prizes await the winners as well as a smattering of "spirit of the event" prizes for those who show true fortitude and courage out there on the course.

* Approx
** Approx approx!

Venues

For 2010 we are returning to Cardiff, Nottingham and Scotland, thus providing an event in each of Wales, England and Scotland. National pride is therefore at stake! Choose to enter all 3, 2 of them, or just the 1. Check out the individual city pages for a peek at what is in store for you on each course. Although all 3 events share certain similarities, such as some of the same obstacles featured on each course, each venue has its own distinct flavour, taking its inspiration from the host city itself and featuring some obstacles that are specific to that venue. 

The course

Some facts about the event, which will remain the same no matter which event you choose:

•    There are 10 obstacles zones in each Survival event
•    There are also some “stocking fillers” to keep you on your toes in between (these are smaller obstacles)
•    The distance is approximate and as each city differs, so does the course
•    Some obstacles remain the same throughout the Series, including the mighty Men’s Health wall, which is the last thing you will see obliterating the skyline before you drag yourself over the finish line
•    You will get wet




The Survival course is part urban and part "rural" depending on the venue. You will encounter different terrains, some gradient (and some SERIOUS gradient in at least one of the cities; we will leave it to you to guess which one!) and you will almost certainly get wet in each one. You do not need any specialist “skills” as such, but running over various types of ground will help and cross-training throughout different muscle groups will almost certainly help you to tackle the full array of the obstacles that Survival will throw at you. Check out our training page for some more top tips on preparation.

How hard is Survival? It’s tough – make no bones about that. It’s also a rock-solid enjoyable day out. With amazing camaraderie out on the course, a superb Under Armour technical Tee thrown in as part of the deal and the thrills and spills of assault course-style obstacles that are sometimes tough, sometimes humorous and sometimes totally surreal, this is a very achievable event for a large cross-section of runners and adventurers. These events are also totally unique; nowhere else will you get the opportunity to interact with the city with the same trade mark gusto that Survival unleashes.

Run Format

The event will start in waves and you will be allocated a starting wave, which you choose when you enter the event on the online entry system. You can choose whichever wave you wish to take part in and there is no ranking or seeding within these waves.* Once a wave is full, it is removed from the entry system. Once you have selected your start wave time, you cannot change it. You will start with 250 others in this wave and together you will all burst out of the starting line and into Survival mode. Even before leaving the event village the first obstacle will present itself. This will almost certainly be the signature hay bale wall. Once you have scaled it, you will run out of the event village to cheers from other racers and your supporters and 9 more obstacles follow in quick succession, split up by running sections and our “stocking fillers.” At the end of the event, it’s back into the event village and time to scale the final obstacle – again a trademark Survival feature – the Men’s Health Wall of Fame. 9 feet of scrambling later you are atop the wall and looking towards the finish arch. Jump down, run (or hobble) 50 metres and will be home and (not so) dry.


* If you are racing to win, or if you think you’re in with a shot at the silverware, we would recommend entering in the first wave so you are “ahead of the pack” out there on the course. Remember, once the waves are full we will remove them from the entry system, so get that entry in quick if you want to race in a certain wave.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ENTER AND WHAT INFO DO YOU RECEIVE PRE-EVENT?

When you enter an event on our online entry system, you will fill out your details, pay your entry fee and you will select your starting wave time. Upon completion of the process, you will receive a confirmation email. This is your confirmation that your place is safe. It also contains a discount code for other events operated by the Rat Race team who operate MH Survival and for the Rat Race Store, which sells all sorts of great kit. You will then receive an event info email 4 weeks prior to the event and another one 1 week prior to the event.

Nothing will be sent through the post. The race will be electronically timed and you will be issued your timing chip, together with your race goody bag and official Under Armour technical race shirt at Registration on the day. You will state your shirt size at that time. All starting times will be posted to this website 2 weeks prior to the event.

Further info

The above info is designed as an overview of the Survival format. There is more information contained within the city pages as to what to expect at each of the England, Scotland and Wales events. Expect more info monthly via the Survival mail-list and look out for training info being added to this website and in upcoming issues of MH. There are also training notes given on the Training page of this site. For general enquiries, the Rat Race events team are happy to help at info@allinthedetail.com and on 0845 009 4365. Please note the obstacles and route are subject to change.

Training

The page of this website entitled Training currently gives training info relevant to10 “example” obstacles in the inaugural Nottingham event. Although there will be some differences in obstacle content from event to event, this provides a solid overview of the types of obstacles you can expect and gives an early guide to training for this style of event. It also gives some info on ideal training sessions with the Rat Race Urban Gym, operating in each of the host locations. More will be added to the training page as the events approach.