Race Across EdinburghSaturday 21 June 2025
Race Across Edinburgh was a unique event, one of a series of activities to celebrate ESOC's 60th anniversary.
It was based on the TV series Race Across the World, and involved orienteering in a series of Edinburgh parks (6 parks, each with 10 controls), and navigating between them, with the locations a closed-guarded secret. The next park was only revealed when competitors had completed each course, and they had to make their way there without the use of a mobile phone.
The event started at the Riccarton campus of Heriot-Watt University, and the other parks were Hailes Quarry Park, Saughton Park, West Princes Street Gardens, Hermitage of Braid, Spylaw Park, then back to Riccarton.
Emma Anderson reports:
“The competitors gathered nervously at the top of The Lawn, clutching their A-Zs and bus maps, for the final few words from ESOC Captain and RAE planner Helena, then we were off for our unique experience of Race Across Edinburgh. Park 1, Riccarton, was a score course in order to spread the teams out. Once complete, teams were handed a punching sheet with the name of the next park, which proved slightly tricky as this particular park was not named in the A-Z. A few who finished quickly found that the bus already waiting at the stop wasn't due to leave for another 15mins, so most took off on foot to head to the Park & Ride instead. The bus that pulled in there however contained many competitors who had finished later! Some opted to run and one pair even caught the train.
Meanwhile, there was much consulting of A-Zs as comments of 'roundabout' and 'underpass' floated around the now steamed up bus, en route to Hailes Quarry Park. A loud 'OOHHH' rang out as some left the bus earlier than expected. Had the rest of us made the correct choice? Volunteers Roger & David at HQP were suddenly inundated as many runners turned up from different directions, and the long grass provided elephant tracks ensuring that those not at the front had a good idea of where to go. This was the first park to use old fashioned pin punching, but everyone waited to take their turn.
Park 3, we discovered, was Saughton. Options were on foot or bus. Again, the buses were busy with competitors and some heeded the advice of a member of the public who informed us that the 35 turned up Chesser Avenue and therefore away from Saughton. A group disembarked to an 'OOHHH' and ran the remainder of the way, meanwhile the bus turned, much to other's dismay. The start was situated at the bandstand in the beautiful Rose Garden, with Mark handing out maps and Helena the onward punching slip.
On leaving Saughton there were numerous options for onward travel to West Princes Street Gardens - on foot, bus along Gorgie Road, bus along Corstorphine Road, tram from Balgreen or, possibly the winning move, bus along the Western Approach Road. A couple of teams were offered lifts, but as cars were prohibited, they politely turned them down. The competitors seemed to be thinning out as we made our different choices, but there was still plenty of bus banter and chat about how much fun we were all having! In town, checking traffic lights resulted in snap alighting decisions and immediately the bus chums became rivals. Sally, Crawford and Louise were there to greet us.
The Hermitage of Braid was park 5 and although there were several buses, they all went the same way. Competitors were bunched again. On arrival, Eleanor handed out maps and Rona M was heard telling Team Rusty that they were in the lead. This was a great achievement as they had run the whole way. A slightly hillier course this time, but times were still fast as the end was nearing.
On leaving, Rona M told NESW that they were in 3rd place. The final park turned out to be Spylaw Park, which had been speculated on the previous bus. On foot or the 16 bus were the options. Team NESW were the only ones at the bus stop and the bus was waiting at the traffic lights round the corner. Could this be an opportunity to leave others behind? The lights took what seemed like forever to change and in that time, And the Gows Get the Gold and exESOCkids were running towards the stop. All 3 teams were on the bus. A member of the public suggested which stop would be best and all 3 were off again. A sprint round Spylaw proved a park too far for Craig's knee (exESOCkids) with Rona L putting in the extra effort, but all 3 teams made it to the next bus stop with 4 minutes to spare for the final bus journey back to Riccarton. Craig also discovered from Spylaw volunteers Judy and Keith, that these were now the top 3 teams.
A sigh of relief when the 45 arrived on time, but then the realisation that after 3 hours and 6 parks, it was going to be a sprint finish from the bus stop! Map geeking ensued. ExESOCkids conceded that they were not going to sprint due to Craig's knee. Tension was high as the bus pulled into Heriot-Watt campus and ramped higher as it pulled into the terminus. The doors opened and William (NESW) flew out, followed by Emma (NESW), Alexis (And The Gows Get The Gold) and David (And The Gows Get The Gold). William streaked ahead, but Alexis and then David overtook Emma. Despite geeking the shortest route, the straightest was taken, with William reaching the finish first, followed by the Gows. It looked as if NESW had won it, but then Captain Helena said 'William, you don't have your mum'. Race Across Edinburgh was a team event and so in the end....And The Gows Get The Gold!
The Corstorphine Queens had decided to run from Spylaw Park, earning them 4th place and Team Rusty, who ran the whole 33.5k, came in 5th, just 24 minutes down on the winners. A brilliant achievement and earning them the 3rd podium place for a local team. The next small batch of finishers had opted for a 2 bus strategy from the final park, providing another decisive move to complete the family podium. Finishers then arrived in waves as buses pulled into the terminus. All but one team completed the whole course. As 72 teams wrote their names in the finishers' book, it was wholeheartedly agreed that it had been a fantastic day out.
A huge thank you to main organiser Helena, Jayne for entries, Gordon for computing and all the park volunteers who made the day such a success. Thanks also to sponsors Decathlon for the goody bags and prizes and Lothian Buses for the 2 family prizes.”
See the Race Across Edinburgh event item on this website for more details, Organiser/Planner’s Report and full results.
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