Essential Event Information

Agnadi View Villa 

Accommodation will be provided across a mix of 2/3/4-bed studios and apartments. 

If you wish to share a room with a fellow participant, you will have the opportunity to request this on your Event Participation Form. If you are taking part on your own, you will be paired with another participant/s of the same sex. 

The itinerary is on a Bed & Breakfast basis. 

On event days you will be supported by Rat Race Pit Stops: 1 on Thirassia (Saturday) and 5 on Thira (Sunday). Pit Stops will be spaced out as evenly as possible and feature water, small grab-and-go snacks and other treats. At Pit Stop 2 on Thira there will typically be some more substantial savoury ‘lunch’ items such as wraps and bread. 

You should look to augment these Pit Stops with your own snacks and you should very definitely provide your own hydration, electrolyte and sports nutrition supplies. This will be important throughout your adventure. You will pass some tavernas and shops along the middle section of the route, you are more than welcome to pop in and get yourself a cold drink or a well-deserved ice cream. 

On the Sunday night in Oia we will provide a celebration dinner at a great local restaurant. 

Where we provide meals as part of the general event service, we will not include alcoholic or soft drinks as standard and these must be provided by yourselves. 

Please ensure that you settle any personal bar tabs at the hotel before you leave.  

Toilets will not be available at pit stops. We recommend that you take advantage of the facilities available in cafes that you pass along the route. However, you will inevitably find yourself needing to go to the toilet in the wild at some point along the course.  

The firm advice is always to ensure you are ‘self-contained’ with toilet roll and anti-bacterial hand gel for the trail. Do NOT leave toilet paper or human waste out on the route, please bring nappy bags to contain this waste and dispose of in the nearest bin or at the next pit stop.  

You should keep to a high level of personal hygiene and keep your hands clean by using wet wipes and antibacterial gel where soap and water is not available.

There will be 20-40 participants taking part in the event, depending on the weekend.   

You will kayak in pods. Each pod will be a group of approximately 10 people. The kayaks are double sea kayaks. You can go with a friend, or you may be paired up with another participant. Each pod will have a qualified sea kayak instructor. The pods will stay together throughout the kayak stage. This is for the safety and management of the full team. A safety boat will be present throughout the kayaking stage to support the event.   

For the run/hike stages, you can go at your own pace. Run or hike with others, run or hike on your own, whatever you fancy. We will not stop you trekking unless you look unlikely to finish in daylight. As such, there are no formal cut-off times at the pit stops – it is very much down to the judgement of the event team. We can help and assist every step of the way. We are there to support you and if this means boosting you forward by vehicle, we will do so to enable you to finish on a high. Unless we think you’re going to run out of daylight, we will not cut you off. That is our pledge to you. For your part, just keep moving forward.

We have asked that you have in place Travel Insurance cover and specified Evacuation cover to last for a minimum period of the event duration for the days you are with us on the published itinerary. Evacuation and medical expenses cover should total no less than $500 000. A copy of this cover/covers (if separate policies) is required to be received by us by 8th August 2025. The details for submission can be seen at the bottom of this EEI in the ‘checklist’ section.  

We recommend that participants have insurance to cover damage, loss, theft, injury and non-attendance. Rat Race cannot accept any responsibility for the loss of, theft, or damage to any Participant property or the circumstances of Participant non-attendance. Within the 12-week departure window, we cannot provide any transfers and, in all cases, we cannot entertain requests for refunds. 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.  

You can submit copies of your insurance via the online form here. Alongside this, we ask that medical screening is completed, plus an online waiver. Please see the actions list at the bottom of this document for details. 

Some suggested providers are as follows:  
 
For UK and Channel Island residents Rat Race’s own insurer brokers have a brand-new product: https://www.mannbroadbent.co.uk/sports-travel-insurance/. 

Note: This is Rat Race’s UK-based insurance broker, specialising in the leisure insurance market. This is a specialist sports travel cover product; however, Rat Race is neither an insurance broker or underwriter. We can recommend Mann Broadbent wholeheartedly as good people to deal with, but please remember that this is not a ‘Rat Race product’ and we have no say whatsoever on claims decisions made by the insurers, in the event that you raise such a claim via one of these policies.  
 

Other providers: 

• www.battleface.com 

• www.bigcattravelinsurance.com 

• www.internationalsos.com 

Note: We have no relationship with any of these providers, but previous customers have found them reasonable to deal with regarding some of our similar Bucket List challenges.  
 
Note: For all insurance, please remember that cover is offered based on several factors, (the nature of the event disciplines being one of them), but your own insurance profile, age, health and other details form a big part of this. As such, we are always happy to provide details to insurers in support of cover requests from customers, but we cannot influence their decisions as to whether to offer cover to individuals.  

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.  ​

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.  

As far as the time available goes to avoid a cut-off, there is no ‘set’ cut off time . (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’ or 'boosted' 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 must. And if we do, it is for your own safety.

Rat Race utilises top-tier satellite tracking units attached directly to your running pack. There are two main purposes for this.  

The primary function is safety and Race Management. It allows our event team to ensure everyone is following the correct event route, and will aid us in advising you if you have wandered off course. Further, in the instance that you or someone near you comes into difficulty, it helps us to find you and get help to you more quickly.  

The secondary function is spectator tracking. There will be a public tracking map link generated for family and friends to view your progress from home. 

Crucial Note for Friends & Family: Satellite tracking technology is not entirely infallible. Signal drops can occur in deep valleys, or units can temporarily freeze if blocked by heavy gear inside a pack. Please explicitly warn your friends and family not to panic or contact local emergency services if your tracker stops moving on the map. Our dedicated event safety team monitors the tracking matrix constantly. If an anomaly occurs, we have internal protocols to verify your safety. Third-party interference can severely disrupt active event management and waste emergency services’ time. 

We will have a medic with us for the duration of the trip and they are available for you to interact with in confidence if you experience any medical issues. Whilst the medics are there for ‘what ifs,’ they are also a great source of preventative advice; so please do use them to ask questions and check best practice, particularly in suspected foot injury or issues such as blisters. 

Santorini’s popularity with tourists coupled with high temperatures in the summer months makes October the preferred month for this event as it is both quieter and cooler. However, falling later in the season does mean that the weather can be more temperamental. If wind conditions are too high and sea states too rough, the kayak route may have to change. 

It will be rare that the kayak will be completely cancelled. However, it is not impossible.  

If we deem the sea state to be too large for any kayaking to be done safely, we will complete the run/hike section only on Sunday. However, the route will be extended slightly to start from Akrotiri lighthouse. 

In the event of a true emergency or serious incident you will be notified of protocols at the orientation in Oia. If you are with an injured party whilst on the route, stay with the casualty and await assistance. In the event of a non-emergency incident but for which action is requested from the organisers, then you should place a call (we will give you numbers) or if no phone reception, you should send a message forward to the next Pit Stop with another participant if possible and/or await an event crew member approaching via vehicle/or on foot from behind. This might be medical, logistical or kit/ equipment breakdown as examples. We politely ask that you stop and help someone that is in difficulty – you will be the first person to find them – remember to take note of time, place (number of km, or minutes/ hours from last Pit Stop) and participant number/ name at the incident site. Remember we are all in it together and we are in effect one big team.

As well as being a practising NHS Emergency Care Doctor and Expedition Medicine Specialist, Dr Musto is also a qualified travel medicine practitioner.  Please view the Travel Medicine Advice PDF HERE. 

Please carefully review our Sun & Heat safety guidance issued by our medical partner Trail Med.

This event takes place on the trail and open roads. There are vehicles, this is not a closed road event. Vigilance must be always taken.  

While these are allowed, please control their volume according to your environment. Always use your judgment when listening to music or audiobooks. Please also be aware that if you cannot hear general voice levels you might miss instructions or warnings from crew, other participants or approaching vehicles.