Essential Event Information

There will be a group transfer from Windhoek to our start hub location (a beautiful luxury desert camp), which is around 3 hours drive away from Windhoek. 

There are 2 pick ups options on 1st November:

1. Windhoek airport at 1400 
2. Downtown Windhoek at 1600. This will allow you to stay overnight in Windhoek should you wish. This is recommended: It’s a great city and this will take significant pressure off you travelling in the same day. The downtown meeting point will be at Superspar at the Maerua Mall. See exact pin location HERE. This is also a good chance to stock up on Scooby snacks and other delights, including incredible Namibian Biltong.

Once we are all together, we will ride together into the desert mountains (approx 3 hour journey) and spend our first sensational night under the stars!

There will be a transfer to Walvis Bay Airport at 0900 on 8th November for those who require it or feel free to hang around and enjoy Walvis Bay for an extra few days!

At the time of booking, on our website and within our introductory email on we made clear that your purchase is non-refundable. But up until 12 weeks prior to departure, you could use our transfer system if you wished to withdraw from the event. We respectfully remind all participants that unforeseen circumstances preventing attendance is what travel insurance is designed for and is the reason for this as a strong recommendation on such undertakings.

For the avoidance of doubt, the final day for transfers is Sunday 9th August 2026. We regret that we cannot provide any transfers once these deadline have passed. These are HARD deadlines as we go firm on all aspects of our planning after this stage. We cannot make any exceptions.

Race’s ethos has always been about inspiring folk to undertake challenges in awesome outdoor locations. Race to the Wreck is just that, taken to an epic level. This is not a formal race environment and there are no winners and losers. We do not award prizes for the fastest folk. We will publish the times captured manually by our event crew for each day, in alphabetical order and for your information and comparison as we know everyone does their best and many want to see how their efforts compare to others. There will be no splits for Pit Stop to Pit Stop times. Rat Race totally appreciate the incredible commitment of those taking on the challenges we lay down and each participant is as important as the next regardless of how fast you can cover the distance on foot or bike.

In delivering this unique challenge we prioritize factors such as safety, camaraderie and environmental concerns. Respecting the wishes of local stakeholders with our route management and litter policies is vital in being able to bring folk together for this unique experience. Safety above all else is paramount, as you will fully appreciate. To reasonably balance all these factors, we emphasize that the event is not a formal race environment, rather it is a challenge in the great outdoors where great folk come together with a common purpose.

To facilitate the very best support for you whilst embarked on the event, we have prepared some contact information below that should assist you and loved ones both before departure and then throughout your event experience in Namibia. Please find a series of phone numbers and email addresses and instructions on which is to be used; and for what. Finally, we have included an action check-list so you may tick off the pre-event jobs arising from this Essential Event Information document.

1. For ALL pre-event email correspondence prior to 1st November 2026: 

• events@ratrace.com - admin / kit / challenge based queries
• office@trailmed.co.uk  - Medical-based advice or discussion on medical conditions in confidence

2. For specific arrivals and pre-trip issues in the days immediately prior to arrival in Namibia-   A WhatsApp group will be set up pre-arrival. This will include numbers of crew members if you need assistance whilst you travel to the event. 

3. Emergency correspondence from people who need to get in touch with you (i.e. from those who need to contact you) IN EMERGENCY ONLY between 1-8 November: events@ratrace.com

The originator should quote ‘Emergency correspondence for (your name)’ in the email title and they must provide a phone number for return comms. This will be patched through to our crew’s mobile phones, (or satellite messaging platform if we are out of reception) from our office and a satellite phone will be made available for you to return the comms to the originator. We would aim to provide a suitable response period of within 24 hrs for this service to the originator. Please, please, please do tell your family and supporters not to contact us about Tracker Emergencies!

BG TO CHECK COST WITH LEO & ADD

Race to the Wreck is clearly a substantial undertaking. Whether you are biking and running/ trekking or run/ trekking the whole thing, it is 4.5 days of heavy-duty back-to-back long days, in the heat of the desert. On foot, you should aim for a pace of 3mph/5kph average and if you achieve that, you will have time at the end of the day for a well-earned beer as the sun goes down in the desert. For all of you, training should now be focusing on consecutive days of hiking; aim for 8 hours of hiking for 3 days in a row. Do not avoid hills, hill strength will be the key to success, as those dunes are, well, they are big sandy hills! If you don’t have access to multiple hills, do some hill repetitions on to strengthen the legs. We understand it is by no means easy for everyone to fit in the training, everyone is different, everyone also has different day-to-day pressures, commitments and methods open up to them.

Train with the kit you are planning to wear. You will then be able to check if it is comfortable and fits correctly. Chuck the bag on you are going to be running or hiking with, fill it with some tasty snacks and water, this will help your body to get use to the extra weight on your back. The fitter and more prepared you are for a challenge, the more you can enjoy each and every moment.

For those on the bike, you will not be able to replicate riding on sand unless you go and ride on sand. Of course, you will probably not have a fatbike to do so, but some mountain biking on loose surfaces is well worth it. You have a mixture of track, singletrack and some loose dune-y trails also, so it is key that you do get on a mountain bike and really try and experience some varying terrains. Your 2 days on the bike are characterised by what we would call a ‘really good biking day’ on day 1 and a ‘total beast of a day’ on day 2. A long day or two in the saddle for yourselves in training is a must, to ensure you can endure several hours of peddling in what is going to be a real test for you, notably on day 2.

There will be around 30 participants in the event. In general, we will provide lead and sweep staff (and other support vehicles and/ or hikers throughout the course) and we will establish pit stops along the route, very roughly equidistant between one another and usually a minimum of 3 of these stops per day.

You go at your own pace, hike or bike with others, go on your own, whatever you fancy. We will not stop you trekking or riding unless you look unlikely to finish in daylight. As such, there is no formal cut-off time other than darkness. Daily stages could be influenced by weather or other factors – it is very much down to the judgement of the event team on this basis.

However, unless we think you’re going to run out of daylight to finish the stage, we will not aim to cut you off (injury or other factors notwithstanding). That is our pledge to you. For your part, just keep moving forward.

Registration for the event is split into a ‘pre- event’ Registration phase, where we will ask for particular information to be submitted online (See the top and bottom of this document for what and when). This will be followed up by a physical registration process after we have arrived and settled into Namibgrens, to take place on 4th Nov.

We will provide you with a safety procedure to follow in case of Emergency while on each phase of the event. This may differ per stage and the safety and Emergency protocols will be made clear to you prior to the commencement of each phase when you are in Namibia.

The Namib desert stretches for hundreds of miles along the coast of Namibia, reaching the swirling South Atlantic abruptly at the forbodingly-named Skeleton Coast. We will be following the ancient Kuiseb River (which only flows about once every 5 years due to the lack of water in these parts) from its source near the Namibian capital Windhoek, to the edge of the famous Sand Dune Sea of the Namib Naukluft National Park, containing the highest sand dunes on Earth. The Naukluft is the jewel of the Namib Desert and special permission must be obtained to access it, which is only possible with rugged 4×4 vehicles. The highest sand dunes on Earth can be found here and we will be going over those dunes to reach our objective at the coast, the wreck of the Eduard Bohlen. This multi-sport crossing is a true World-first in many respects and the permissions granted for this event are truly unique. All up, a very special journey awaits into the heart of a very special piece of Africa.

The cold Benguela current brings a fog that shrouds the dunes of the Namib, supporting a surprising array of lifeforms. You will come across Welwitschia plants, nourished by the fog to live for over 2000 years; These truly are some of the oldest living things on Earth. Then there are the animals – oryx, jackal, seal, springbok have all adapted to this environment and especially at the coast, there is an abundance of these critters.

As Doc Brown says to Marty McFly in back to the Future, ‘where we are going, there are no roads.’ That is not entirely accurate for the full route as we do follow some very intuitive tracks in some sections, however when we hit the dunes, it’s you, the sand and a GPX file to follow.

We will not waymark the route. Except, perhaps for a small section here and there when our guide vehicle at the front thinks it is appropriate to do so or where the route has to be diverted for example. For the cyclists, there may also be a short waymarked section of singletrack subject to final route preparations in one particular section on day 1.

In general, this event is operated with GPS as the main method of route guidance. You need to bring a GPS device and our firm suggestion is a GPS-watch’ with which you will be familiar by the time you get to the event. It is imperative that you are well versed in the usage of your own device and that you are confident in its battery life and reliability.

If you wish to rent a Coros or Garmin GPS watch from us, that is also possible. At a cost of £50. This will have the GPX files already downloaded and you will get tuition of how to use the watch on registration day. If you wish to rent a watch GPS watch from us, you can do so via your RR account. 

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We will make available route GPX files for you to upload onto your own devices as you see fit. These files will be provided much closer to the commencement of the event, once we are satisfied we have the definitive version to share. Experience has shown that we will never share the these files until it is the final, final, final version. Or else we end up with version control issues that are hard to resolve. We do do always reserve the right to change the course, the distances or the disciplines of course. These files will be issued at the 1-week out email phase.

Our provision will be made available to you three times on the route daily at our pit stops. Each pit stop will feature a vehicle, staff, access to first aid support, comms and of course, some food and drink. Expect the odd cameo local snack appearance including the mighty Namibian biltong, plenty of sweets and salty snacks and loads of fresh fruit.

General note on food – trail snacks and electrolytes
Please pack your own hearty supply of snacks and electrolytes that you enjoy on the trail.
These can be stored in your day packs and topped up each night when you are reunited with your overnight bags.

You absolutely MUST bring plenty of electrolytes. They will become your new best friend. Trust us on this one, you cannot complete this event safely and comfortably without significant electrolyte intake.

This event is not about cut-offs. But, having a ‘cut-off’ and a ‘sweeping’ structure is an important part of our Event Management Plan and Risk Assessment processes. Cut off times are independent of any other factors that occur earlier in the course such as start time, injury, going the wrong way, time taken at pit stops, head winds; and whether it is your fault or not. We understand that missing cut offs can be tough to take but please remember this is not the crew member’s fault that breaks the news to you, should it happen to you. Please also remember that if this does happen to you, the Event team’s decision is final.

If you are cut off, there will be no option to re-start from where you were cut off the next day. (The event only ever moves forwards).
You may however re-start the next day from the official re-start location; subject to the discretion of the event team.

There are a number of reasons why you may be cut-off or withdrawn from the event. These could be medical, pace, kit, personal or other factors.

It is OK to retire and to be taken forward to the overnight spot. We’d rather you re-started the next day vs suffer meaninglessly and spoil it for yourself. We call this being ‘boosted.’

As far as the time available goes to avoid a cut-off, there is no ‘set’ cut off time each day. (ie. time limit or published time). Instead, we require all participants to be at the finish location before nightfall. If this is looking unlikely you will be ‘swept’ forward. That is the cut-off.
Above all else, please remember, this event is not about cut-offs. It is about getting the most out of this magical environment. We will not cut you off and sweep you forward unless we really have to. And if we do, it is for your own safety.