G.S.A.R.

Blairvadach’s Glasgow Schools Adventure Race.
 
 
The Glasgow Schools Adventure Race first took place in 2007 and has been running every year since. The original idea was conceived by one of Blairvadach Outdoor Education Centre’s long serving instructors as a way of making our secondary programme more engaging and exciting for students.
Why do schools participate?
·        to become active,
·        to work as a team,
·        to commit to a challenge,
·        to train for an objective,
·        to have an opportunity to apply new skills,
·        to feel the sense of achievement in having completed a tough challenge,
·        to experience success,
·        to have fun!
It has proved to be very successful and exemplifies Blairvadach putting Curriculum for Excellence into practice. The event has grown in size with fourteen Glasgow secondary schools participating this year.
 
 
Glasgow Schools Adventure Race – 2012
 
Teams made up of pupils drawn from the third to sixth year of each school faced a day of challenges that tested both physical and mental stamina.
 
The event took place over a five day period in June 2012.
 
Weather conditions were favourable for most of the week with foul weather on the last day.
 
Teams arrived in time for a race briefing at 9.30 a.m. where they met their Race Instructor for the day who helped them with their organisation and were always on hand to offer encouragement and ensure things were done safely.
 
Following the planning session, teams prepared their race equipment and then gathered for a final kit check at 10.30 a.m. before the start at 10.45 a.m.
The Race started and finished at the front door of the Centre on the shores of the Gareloch and teams must complete a fifteen kilometre course involving different outdoor disciplines and challenges.
 
The teams canoed 1.6 km across the loch to Clynder where they started a cross country run.
1 km later and having climbed to a height of 170 metres the teams Tyrolean traversed across a quarry before continuing the run for a further 4.2 km.
Arriving at the transition point in Kilcreggan, the teams changed on to bikes for a
mixture of on and off road cycling.
After 5.2 km, this took them to Rosneath where they jumped into kayaks for a 3 km paddle back to the centre.
At the three special “Challenge Activities”, incorporating, planning, teamwork and effective communication, teams have a chance to earn “Bonus time” which is deducted off their “Total Race Time.”
Just completing the race is a great achievement and all the teams put in huge effort into getting around the course as fast as they possibly could.
After some well-earned food and refreshments, every competitor received a medal and T-shirt for their efforts on the day.
 
This year all fourteen teams completed the Race in very impressive times and all of the Blairvadach staff and visiting teaching staff were very proud of all the participants’ achievements.
 
 
 
 
 

 

Adventure Activities Licensing Authority © 2013 Blairvadach Outdoor Education Centre
Blairvadach Outdoor Education Centre, Rhu, Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, G84 8NN
T: 01436 820 491 | F: 01436 820 668 | E: enquiries@blairvadach.org.uk
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