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New Scottish one-day adventure race

Written by Fiona November 14 2012

A new one-day adventure event called Beat the Borders will be launched on August 31, 2013. Raising vital funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospice Association Scotland), Beat the Borders will see participants cycle, walk, run and face adventure obstacles over 12 hours.

The aim is to complete a 48-mile silver route or a 58-mile gold route. There is also a team relay event.

Starting in Melrose, the challenge heads through Kelso, Roxburgh and Ancrum before finishing at Selkirk.

The organisers say this is what participants can expect: Fun, satisfaction, a challenge, sweat (at least a bit anyway), stunning scenery, hills, a top-notch party, a real sense of achievement, 12 of the best hours you’ll probably have in the great outdoors, a chance to raise money for an amazing cause and, of course, a first class event t-shirt.

More about the Beat the Borders event

The first challenge will be to complete 40 miles by bike from the starting point in Melrose. The route follows the Borders Abbey Way cycle route through Kelso taking the shorter route to Nisbet, and then on to Roxburgh and Ancrum before finishing at Woll Estate.

After fuelling up on a tasty, carb-rich lunch stop, you’ll swap your bike for boots or trainers and head across country along the Borders Abbeys Way towards Selkirk.

Those taking on the silver challenge will complete 8 miles to Haining in Selkirk while gold challengers will complete 18 miles to Melrose. The walk/jog section of Beat the Borders crosses through some challenging and stunning countryside and the full 18-mile Gold Route will pass by Selkirk and then on to Melrose where it all started.

The challenges: To make things a bit more fun there will be challenge elements dotted about. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for some teasers as to what these might be. Teams will be awarded points for each challenge they complete, and as you know, points mean prizes.

See here to register or find out more about Beat the Borders. An early bird discount price of £40 applies until the New year. All participants must pledge to raise £400 for CHAS.

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