DARE - Urban Adventure Race

ThisRegard

I've been keeping an eye on this for a while and their site has just gone live, http://www.dublindaresyou.com
It's an urban race along the lines of the Rat Race series that goes ahead in Cardiff, Nottingham and Edinburgh and is split along the usual lines of Sports and Expert. Expert seems to get you around a good bit of the city and the highlight they're pushing is abseiling down Landsdowne Road. It ties in with the Adventure Weekend show in the RDS, might be fun.

itsalltrue

i would consider doing this but i'm a poor swimmer and with the unknown of the secret water challenge i think it will count me out

ThisRegard

From looking at the t.v. coverage of similar events I would imagine you'd have buoyancy aids doing anything involving water so you would be ok no matter what your swimming ability is.

ezikel

itsalltrue wrote: »

i would consider doing this but i'm a poor swimmer and with the unknown of the secret water challenge i think it will count me out

we wont be asking you to swim...maybe I should make that clear on the site! It will be a watersport or a combination of watersports and of course, all will be with a bouyancy aid!

woody1

ive watched the mens health survival of the fittest in edinburgh on you-tube and on the active channell looks very like that but this sounds better the water challenges in edinburgh just involved getting wet but no swimming dont really fancy the orienteiring element i think youve enough to do without having to engage your brain to figure out where to go but other than that would definitely be interested is it just me or are there way more races this year than last so many that are interesting me but their all clashing with each other or too close together

it says on the dare site 5k watersport and challenges i hope that doesnt mean a 5k kayak jaysus id be f*cked

Fi H

Looks like a really fun race! Would love to enter but will be in the Millenium Stadium hopefully watching Leinster instead of abseiling down the Aviva

Any chance of an urban series?

pc11

90 odd euro is pretty pricey IMO.

Merch

itsalltrue wrote: »

i would consider doing this but i'm a poor swimmer and with the unknown of the secret water challenge i think it will count me out

I heard about this the other day, I'm concerned about the mystery assault course, I'd be ok with all the rest maps/abseil/water and while I know its meant to be fun, I dont feel like making a complete tool of myself it it means I have to use my girl arms to hold up my body weight, like pull ups or climbing along an overhead ladder (like a ladder laid horizontally but over your height) Id be useless at that and my arms probably wouldnt work after one go of that

pc11 wrote: »

90 odd euro is pretty pricey IMO.

think its 80 euro? still pricey

ezikel wrote: »

we wont be asking you to swim...maybe I should make that clear on the site! It will be a watersport or a combination of watersports and of course, all will be with a bouyancy aid!

I'm ok swimming, anymore details about the assault course?

ezikel

think its 80 euro? still pricey

With the amount of activity racers will have on the day, compared to say, the Dublin Marathon, which is a similar price, it is hard to get the price any lower. Organising abseils, kayaks etc etc is not cheap. It is a complex, day-long event to stage. We think the price is good value for what the event will provide in terms of activity.
But we appreciate that it might not be for everyone.

I'm ok swimming, anymore details about the assault course?[/QUOTE]

You wont be asked to do anything you don't want to do. If you see a bit you don't like, just skip it. It's all about giving it a go and having a good time and the Bootcamp Assault Course will provide a good time. I won't go into any more detail about the assault course as it ruins the element of surprise for everyone else, however, contact Bootcamp, or us directly if you want to know more about it :cool:

woody1

80 euro early bird 90 after that and yes it is expensive... but you do get to abseil off the aviva not saying its worth 80 quid but it takes the pain out of the price a bit im just hoping that it doesnt turn out to be a 20ft abseil off a climbing wall thats leaning against the aviva

Enduro

From what I've read and heard the abseil will be the real deal.

As Ezikel says, this isn't just a running race. There is a lot to be organised, co-ordinated, paid for and insured.

If you think it's expensive, try organising a day for yourself where you get supervised kayaking, abseiling, along with a cycle and foot race etc, and add the costs up. See how close you can get to 80 Euros.

Fi H

Sounds like this race is offering an awful lot more than some of the other races around are offering for similar prices, also I would imagine in an urban environment there is a lot more too organise re roads, bike stands etc as there arent massive fields lying about the place that can be used cheaply. Not for me this time round but fair play to the organisers for providing something different!

Merch

I suppose , yeh when you think of the no. of events 80 isnt too bad,
Is there a max no. of competitors allowed to participate?

Wonkagirl

This looks awesome- definitely in the diary! Nice to not have to travel 4 hours for an adventure race for a change too!

Merch

Great! so you're already trained up
Enough time for me to get in shape for it? moderately fit but not super strong

Wonkagirl

Signed up for this today- handed over 240 for our team of 3 :eek::eek:

I guess the abseiling adds a good bit to the price.. anyone that signs up and chooses not to do the abseil is stir crazy on that basis! website says it's not mandatory.

website is pretty brutal, hard to understand who does what, whether each person runs etc, or if it's a tag situation. I really want to do the obstacle course bit, that sounds like fun. I wonder will all 3 of us get to do the abseil?

i'll give it a go for the novelty factor, but it might turn out to be a disaster (either that or the best craic ever). No road closures will make it interesting, that's for sure- particularly in the city centre but hey, that's all part of it. Bring it on.

ezikel

Hi wonka girl
you will be doing everything. the abseil is for everyone and the beach challenge and assault course. The only part where you have to decide with your team who does what is the kayaking, but it is only deciding who kayaks first and who does secret water challenge first.
Adventure racing in it's classic format is that everyone moves as a team and everybody does everything and those who don't do it incur a time penalty for every person who does not complete a task. This race is following that format.
Thought that was clear from the website

this is what I like about boards, good feedback

ElectraX

Wonkagirl wrote: »

website is pretty brutal, hard to understand who does what, whether each person runs etc, or if it's a tag situation.

That's a bit harsh;) Personally, I find the website straightforward and very informative and the interface itself is great.Some of the races out there have brutal websites, this one is definitely on the more professional side!
But it might be no harm to update the FAQ section as issues are highlighted in this thread.Especially since a recurrent point is the price of the race, you need to make it crystal clear that everyone in the team gets the best value from the day by getting to compete in all events.

nerraw1111

Looks like it has the makings of a great event.

I'd kill* for a feature like this in DARE.

Check out first video.
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2011/02/urban-velo-takes-on-new-meaning-with-city-dh-course/


*More than likely be killed

ezikel

HI All,

Just letting you know that due to popular demand we have added a solo category to DARE. We underestimated the popularity of individual adventure racing! Anyone who has already entered as a team and want to go solo, are more than welcome to change over.

PositiveNegativ

I was very fortunate to have the chance to try out the Stadium abseil this afternoon.

Being 40m up in the roof trusses of the stadium with a large man saying 'just climb over that safety rail as if it's a fence on the ground' isn't an every day experience. The initial shock of walking out onto the gantry is the worst bit, from there it's about adjusting to the height, putting on the harness and committing to climbing the fence. Then it's pure fun.

If anyone is thinking Will I, Won't I, I'd say go for it, it's something you'll remember for some time.

Please note I'm not involved in the organisation of this race.

Wonkagirl

I cant wait for the abseil- i think people would be crazy not to do it! I know what you mean Pos/Neg about the strange sensation of walking out 'unaided'- i only abseiled once and found this really difficult to get my head around and i'm sure it'll be no easier the 2nd time around.

It's going to be a really fun event though, i cant wait. Makes such a nice change to not have to travel to an event!

ezikel

Work at height getting into film making.

A snapshot from today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq_tB9tp3gE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

ezikel

OOps,

Correct link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq_tB9tp3gE&feature=channel_video_title

Enduro

Wonkagirl wrote: »

I cant wait for the abseil- i think people would be crazy not to do it! I know what you mean Pos/Neg about the strange sensation of walking out 'unaided'- i only abseiled once and found this really difficult to get my head around and i'm sure it'll be no easier the 2nd time around.

It's going to be a really fun event though, i cant wait. Makes such a nice change to not have to travel to an event!

A tip for abseiling if you're nervous... Focus completely on the things immediately in front of you, like the rope, the friction device, the gantry etc. Once you've started off and you're abseiling freely then look around and enjoy the view.

makl

Have many signed up for this? Event is very well laid out etc on website, but I presume we have to find our own way around the city? i.e.from Sandymount to North beaches, to the canals then up n down canals. Seems messy, don't know why (because organisation seems great) -- will the competitors be fairly well spread out so that you'll be on your own for most of it (in solo event of course)?

Is it similar to any race before in england?

ezikel

HI Makl,

You will be given maps for every section you do. It will be no worse than reading a map in the city when you are a tourist and map reading is normally one of the traits of adventure races. Its what makes them exciting.

It will spread out like any other adventure race in terms of competitors.What is different is that you will be doing challenges also during the sections.

We have a great route planned for the bike section. depending on what level you are coming in at, it will take you all over the interesting parts of the city, maybe to spots you have never been to.

Hope you will be joining in!

Wonkagirl

Are there many doing this?

We have a team of 3. Really looking forward to it. Not really sure what to expect but it's going to be a lot of fun hopefully- and it makes such a nice change to not ahve to pack up the car and travel west for an adventure race.. i live near the rds so i'll be able to walk to the starting line- novelty!

Wonkagirl

Are there NO other boardies doing this? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I havent a clue what's going on but it'll be an adventure anyway.. really hope i'm in teh earlier wave, had no clue it was an approx 7hour race, will miss the rugby match if we kick off at 10am!

backinexile

I'm looking forward to this in the 9 o'clock wave so hopefully it starts on time and i make it home for the rugby.

Planning on cycling down to it and home after don't know how wise a decision that is

Heard that we will have to run up the stairs in the liberty hall as part of the street section

woody1

nah, i was/am interested but the price put me off, not that its particularly expensive for what it is/whats involved, its just too expensive for me at the moment.. too many other races entered already, the madness has to stop somewhere..
hopefully next year if its on again
also the thought of fluting round dublin with a map looking for places / things would do my head in ..
but do give us a report ....

Trotter

Hi all,

Just wondering did anyone else here do the Dublin Dare race yesterday?

http://www.dublindaresyou.com/

It was my first go at an urban adventure race. I enjoyed most of it but there were some really frustrating aspects to it too.

Sandwell

Yeah, a few of us did it. Found it a really enjoyable day and saw parts of Dublin I'd never visited before. The abseil in the Aviva was cool although the view from the top of Liberty Hall was actually even more impressive. We weren't taking it particularly seriously though and I would suspect if you were in it to win it you might have found it frustrating as there were plenty of opportunities to cheat, particularly in the street orienteering section. All in all, I thought it was pretty well organised for a first year event. Could have done with some signage at the start and finish though.

Trotter

Was I right in thinking that a lot of the clues were out of sync with the map on the bike route? Also there was an O on the page that was marked as a D on the street map (or vice versa) so that really threw us.

I thought there'd be at least a tshirt for us at the finish line. You'd expect that for €85. The goodie bags were atrocious. I was disappointed too that my missis had to pay €15 to be at the finish line to see us home.

All in all I thought the abseil was brilliant but the rest of it wasn't organised overly well at all compared to other events I've done that cost the same or less.

Sandwell

Yeah, the goodie bag was a joke. I didn't consider the question of supporters having to pay in to the Adventure Weekend to cheer people home. That's not good. As it happened my missus was taking part too so the question didn't arise. I didn't get the impression that there was any real advantage to be gained in basing it in the RDS either.

Noticed a few inconsistencies on the maps ourselves. Also, the orienteering should have been organised in a way that ensured that teams had to get a stamp or somehow check-in at each location. As it was, there was ample opportunity for skullduggery.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, indeed everyone I spoke to did, but there were definitely some major flaws.

adamski8

Trotter wrote: »

I was disappointed too that my missis had to pay €15 to be at the finish line to see us home.

WTF! thats the worst charge i think ive ever heard of! jesus ****ing christ! cant believe anyone paid that out of principal

Trotter

adamski8 wrote: »

WTF! thats the worst charge i think ive ever heard of! jesus ****ing christ! cant believe anyone paid that out of principal

See the finish line was inside the Adventure Exhibition.. and ya had to pay into that. She hasn't any interest in anything outdoorsy so didnt even look at the exhibition.. The most expensive bottle of Lukozade sport she ever bought me.

Oldlegs

The whole idea of the event was great. The atmosphere among the competitors was great as well. Aviva abseil was great

Think this 1st staging was let down to an extent by poor planning. €90 was pretty expensive for a race with
- no T-shirt or goodie bag (don't tell me that a bunch of adverts make for a goodie bag),
- an assault course that was crap (Boot Camp could surely have done better),:mad:
- a non-existent surprise water challenge,
- inconsistent maps/details/clues,
- result which are taking an age to process (and still appear to have errors ).

Still, we had a blast and would consider it for next year, BUT only if the organisers can show that they can put on an event which justifies the price tag.

Wonkagirl

All in all, I LOVED the event, would definitely do it again.. Got to see parts of dublin that i'd never seen before, and had great banter with people on the course, during the orienteering section in particular.

I really enjoyed said orienteering section on foot, BUT, the extra clues thrown in outside of the official orienteering section were a joke. These should have just been dibbing stations instead,. as clearly they were only in place to make people cycle a certain route which was silly.

The Bootcamp section was a complete JOKE- were they for real? I was expecting a lot better than that!!!

Now- the abseil- WOW- LOVED that!!!!!! Will remember that for a long time. ALso loved the kayak section

For it to be a real adventure race and be taken seriously though a lot of things would have to change.. it was FAR too easy to cheat for a start, lots of groups were swapping clues during the orienteering section.. i saw 2 groups swap southside for northside clues. The goodie bag- the less said about that the better really!

Still though, i thoroughly enjoyed it and the abseil alone was worth the 90 quid!

Stark

I couldn't resist joining in to say that the Bootcamp assault course was the biggest load of **** ever Bunch of eejits standing there slack jawed looking at us when we arrived and asking each other "eh what do we do with them. Uhm, go lift that tyre there. Uhm, put it there. Uhm....". "Can I go now?". "Uhm, ok".

I enjoyed the rest of the race though. As for the cheaters, the phrase "only fooling yourself" comes to mind. Though I'm not sure if it was specified anywhere in the rules that you couldn't split from your teammate. I took it for granted as that's generally the way in these things, but someone new could have assumed they were just being clever. No excusing the people who apparently took bikes out on the treasure hunt (orienteering's a different sport ) though. I did notice a few marshalls about. Perhaps different coloured wrist bands or asking to see a person's SI card (a dibber is a gardening tool) could have helped address the cases where people were splitting up controls between northside/southside. You arrive without an SI card and without a partner, marshall takes a note of your number and you suffer an appropriate penalty. Then again, fairly easy for people to dodge a control if they see a marshall, it's very hard to fully defend against a determined cheat. For example, the Mourne mountain marathon course is peppered with checks and marshalls but I still see someone manage to cheat in some way every year. Some of the mishaps on the biking section were unfortunate but I can understand that having a State visit right before and after your urban event makes recceing the route and working around closures a nightmare.

The treasure hunt was more fun than I expected. I especially enjoyed having to run up to the top floor of Liberty Hall and the run around some of Dublin's tourist attractions. They should have a skull a pint in the Guinness brewery challenge next year

former

I'm normally a lurker on this thread and the IMRA thread. I agree with the points raised about DARE. The race was generally fun. However, the cheating makes a joke of the results. Very different to the solo multi-sport events that I normally do. The experience has given me something unexpected to think about. I was working towards some of the Causeway Coast events later in the year. Is cheating normal in adventure races involving orienteering?

Stark

I imagine patrolling people splitting up was made more difficult by having individual entrants so people running without partners didn't stand out like they would in other events. In an event with fixed number of people per team, you'd never get away with blatantly dividing in the course in two. The stuff I've seen has typically involved jettisoning of mandatory kit in order to save weight (sometimes returning to it when you have your control, sometimes not) and sending a teammate to punch a control where there's effort involved in getting right up to it (but running together for 90% of the course). Most adventure races are in remote areas as well so you can't exactly call into your apartment mid-way through your course in order to pick up your second bike which is what I assumed happened with the people who were seen on bikes for the on foot treasure hunt. You'll never eliminate cheating altogether (you often see people taking shortcuts in road races for example and some triathlons practically have pelotons despite the no-drafting rule) but I think most events have it mitigated for the most part.

Peterx

former wrote: »

I'm normally a lurker on this thread and the IMRA thread. I agree with the points raised about DARE. The race was generally fun. However, the cheating makes a joke of the results. Very different to the solo multi-sport events that I normally do. The experience has given me something unexpected to think about. I was working towards some of the Causeway Coast events later in the year. Is cheating normal in adventure races involving orienteering?

The simple answer is NO, cheating is not normal or encouraged amongst regular racers.
The complicated answer is that myself and others will take a careful look at the rules, I will not cheat or break any rules however if I spot loopholes I will try to exploit them - within the spirit of the event. Timeouts are a regular easy one to exploit and these are a great spot to refuel, rest and recce before tackling the course again.

I would recommend the the causeway races as the Causeway team will have their race set up in such a way that cheating is not either;

a : not the simplest option
b : prevented with use of controls

A city course cannot really be expected to leave punched controls littered about a city, especially given the weekend that was in it, the guards or the gurriers would definitely have lifted them.
First year races need to be cut some slack really, you learn so much in your first year and this is why some of the established races are good, they learnt from their mistakes. Fair play to the organisers for putting it out there - hopefully they learn from their mistakes - and by all accounts the abseil was amazing.

ezikel

HI All,

Thanks to all who joined in on the inaugural DARE. The feedback has been very positive in general and also very constructive for next year.

Re cheating on the orienteering course. Personal Responsibility of every racer comes to mind. I designed the course for adults and didn't anticipate that people would do what they did. Save putting SI boxes all over the city centre, we will have to go back to the drawing board to make it cheat proof for next year.

As Stark said, these people were only fooling themselves as the orienteering course was littered with amazing places that people would normally have to pay to enter, so they would have missed out on a good deal there. But it is these very same people who come back and say that the event was too expensive or choose to focus on the negatives rather than the positives. If value for money is what people are looking for in an event, why cut corners whilst participating in that event? Surely that is devaluing their own experience.

In my view, it was a well balanced and very rewarding race and way more rewarding for those who played the game by the rule book and stuck together as a team. The idea that people did the O course on bikes is unreal.....especially when we gave the maps out separately. What do we do? Force people to lock their bikes at transition? Confiscate their Dublin Bikes Cards? Seems a bit sad to be even contemplating that kind of stuff.

We will be focusing on making it cheat proof next year but also maintain the fun and buzz that was there this year. As with any first time event, there is a lot to learn and work on for next year but overall, we are very very happy with how the race went and that everyone finished the day safe and sound and with a motivation for more of the same.

Gearoid

Trotter

I'd have loved to have spent more time on the street orienteering. Unfortunately, being too slow on the bike was my main problem. We thought we had the full 2.5 hours on the orienteering ("expert", with 8 hours available from the start time in total) but a marshall at the kayaking stop told a gang of us we all had to be in the RDS by 4. That didnt tie in with what we'd got in the email so we didnt know what to do. The marshall said we were only going to be timed out at the Aviva if there were queues.. so we didnt know what to do. We ended up splitting the difference and said we'd get back to the bikes at the docks by 4. Its a pity cause we could've had an extra hour nearly to find the clues.

I have to say though that the Aviva experience was first class. I really enjoyed it.

former

Congratulations on putting on an event that was new and different and a lot of fun. Ok there are some pointers for next year to make it even better.

Several people asked me what the event was, because it looked like a lot of fun, so I expect you'll have a lot of newbies next year as well.