Essential Event Information 2026

MEETING POINT:  Northstead Upper Car Park, Scarborough, YO12 6AQ on Thursday 20th August 12:00. You can find a pin for the exact meet location HERE.​

Cars can park here for 4 days at a cost of £47.80, payable by RingGo app, or you can find free parking on a local street. 

We will then begin our transfer to St Bees, this will take approximately 4 hours and we will have a comfort break on the way. 

Please do let us know in the event-participation form if you will be heading straight to St Bees and not using our included coach transfer so we know not to expect you!

END POINT:  Scarborough. Your vehicle if you took our pre-event transfer will of course be in Scarborough, which means you can choose to stay overnight or head home the same night, the choice is yours! 

Registration for the event is split into a ‘pre-event’ Registration phase, where we will ask for information to be submitted online:

1. Event Participation Form - by 30th June 2026
2. Medical Form - by 30th June 2026

This will be followed up by a physical registration process in person on the 20th August.

We will provide you with a safety procedure to follow in case of an 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.  

• 20th August – Seacote Hotel, St Bees, CA27 0ES 

• 21st August – Shap Wells Hotel, Shap, Penrith, CA108PP 

• 22nd August - Golden Lion, Northallerton, DL78PP 

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The inclusive meals are outlined below:

• 20th August - evening meal only included 
• 21st August - all meals included
• 22nd August - all meals included
• 23rd August - all meals included including celebratory fish & chips in Scarborough!

All food for the event days will be included. Food prepared will be varied, substantial and appropriate for the type of undertaking. However, please bring extra food, snacks and specific gels or bars if you have favourites or specific nutrition you like when doing endurance events. Water will be available at all pitstops as well as a mix of salty and sweet snacks.

Alcoholic Drinks & Extras

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. At the hotels there will be a bar where you can buy alcoholic and soft drinks. If you put anything onto your ‘tab/room’ please pay for it before you leave the hotel.   

You will need 3 bags for this event: 

1) OVERNIGHT BAG (up to 70 litres and 15kg) 

You will leave this at the start of each day for transportation to the overnight accommodation. It should include anything you don't need during the day.  It can be a maximum of 70 litres and weigh no more than 15kg. This is due to the weight and size limitations of our transport vehicles. We will be checking bag weights if considered bulky and/or overweight. Please do not pack any fragile items or liquids in weak containers as they may leak in transit. Bags should be waterproof as they may be exposed to the elements and may sit on wet ground.

2) TRANSITION BAG (up to 35 litres)

You may also bring one bag which will be present at the lunch pitstop each day. This should be no larger than 35 litres, and should contain any clothing changes or additional nutrition etc you want in the middle of the day.

3) DAY PACK 

This is the bag you will have on the bike each day and will hold all the supplies you need whilst out on the route day to day.

If you are renting from us, the hire bikes will be Marlin 7 Gen 2 (or very similar), see HERE and these will be transported to the start and from the finish for you.  If you wish to hire a bike from us, you can purchase these via your RR account. Please note there are only very limited numbers/sizes.

We use a dedicated bike transport trailer to ensure your bikes are correctly stored while in transit. The risk of damage to your bike is no more than most back-of-car carriers or what you will put the bike through while riding it along the route. This is the method we have used throughout this event for years. Rat Race will not be liable for any damage alleged during transit.

Should you wish to protect your bike prior to them being loaded, you can bring your own lagging and tape.

Completing not competing. Rat Race’s ethos has always been about inspiring folk to undertake challenges in awesome outdoor locations. The Crossing 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. There will be no splits. Indeed, there will be no timings. 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. This is akin far more to an expeditionary undertaking than anything else. 

In delivering this unique challenge we prioritise 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 emphasise 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. 

1.) For ALL pre-event email correspondence prior to departure: 

• events@ratrace.com for admin, challenge-based questions, kit, training, prep

• office@trailmed.co.uk for any medical-based advice or discussion on medical conditions in confidence 

2.) Emergency correspondence from people who need to get in touch with you (i.e. from those who need to contact you) IN EMERGENCY ONLY while you are embarked on the event: events@ratrace.com.
The originator should quote ‘Emergency correspondence for (yourname)’ 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!

3.) A WhatsApp group will be created a few days before departure. This will be the main point of contact leading up to the event itself.

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.’  

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. 

IMPORTANT: Cut off times are leaving times from the transition, not arrival times.

It is probable that when you set off on the Challenge on day 1, the first hours of the first day may be a bit hit n’ miss. Pace, temperature regulation, kit selection, footwear or bag niggles. All to be expected. Embrace that ‘bedding down into it’ phase and listen to your body and to your kit. Expect some unexpected phenomena (not UFOs, just unusual kit or boot issues that you may not have quite been expecting). Use this time to just get used to the environment, the gear and the temperature. Go with it and relax. By pit stop 1 or 2, you’ll have worked out enough to be comfortable.  

Our team is there for you in case you have an incident with which you require assistance. The team will shadow the progress of the challenge each day in vehicles before establishing a med centre each afternoon at the location to which we are heading for our accommodation. 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. We will also have medical staff along the course with you for some specific sections of the route.  

At this stage we are inviting you to have a medical screening process, which can be completed via the link below. Please complete this as soon as possible – and certainly please, no later than 30th June. If you do have any condition that you feel we should know about, however small you feel it may be, please do share this with our Medics. Experience has shown that early pre-screening can assist both us and you greatly in enabling the care you need pre and during the trip. If you do not share information on conditions which are likely to affect your participation or decide to share them very late in the process, we are all under pressure and we will always reserve the right to cancel your participation if we feel there is a medical issue that may affect yours, or others’ safety. So please, do share anything and everything you feel our team should know about, at the earliest opportunity.

 IMPORTANT NOTE ON SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS AND MEDICAL INFORMATION: 

​ We are very fortunate to have an excellent Medical Director providing oversight, planning and screening on all of our international trips, who in turn engages seriously professional and qualified staff to join you on the trip. Rat Race also conforms and has been audited to the rigorous BS8848 standard of expedition management. This means our approach to all things safety and medical is extremely thorough and it is designed throughout with your best interest at heart. 

Your medical screening details will be sent direct to our medical team and under medical confidentiality rules, this will only be shared with our medics and no-one else. If they decide this is information that is in the best interests of everyone for us as organisers to be privy to, they will seek and gain your consent before doing so. It is therefore important you complete the medical survey only via the link which can be found HERE; do not send Rat Race medical information direct. If you have any queries at all on the medical side of things in relation to this event, you can email our Medical Director, Dr Patrick Musto confidentially on office@trailmed.com and he and his team will assist. 

COMPLETE MEDICAL FORM BY 30TH JUNE

This event takes place on ‘Live’ public roads, private roads, and shared access trails. You must courteously give way to other users on these routes, whether they are cars, other recreational walkers, horse riders, buggies, older people, hard of hearing etc. Despite pre-event cautions these ambient users may not know that the event is coming through, so slow down, give polite and clear instructions, and take safe passage around them. The use of a bike bell is surprisingly effective.  

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.  

The event will proceed in many conditions, but if it is deemed unsafe to continue due to weather conditions, the event will be halted at the current hotel or accommodation location. If required, we will await more favourable conditions to re-commence. This may result in some stages being cut short to achieve daily mileages within the time available. 

In the event of a true emergency or serious incident call 999. Then contact the Race Director (number will be shared closer to the event). In the event of a non-emergency incident but for which action is requested from the organisers then call the Race Director. This might be medical, logistical or complete mechanical 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. Also consider passing a message to a participant as they can then pass this onto the next course marshal that they meet – remember to take note of time, place and race number at the incident site.

While these are allowed, we would prefer you to take in the peace and tranquility of much of your route. If you must listen to music, please control their volume according to your environment. Use your judgement and you MUST turn music players off when on live roads. Please also be aware that if you cannot hear general voice levels you might miss instructions from marshals, other runners/cyclists or approaching traffic. We suggest that you run the leads behind you so that approaching runners/cyclists from behind can see that you are wired for sound. If event staff ask you to remove headphones or turn music off/down, there will be a good reason. Please respect their request.