The Wales Event – Cardiff, Sunday 7th October 2012

2012 will again see the MH Survival Series travel to cities in Wales, England and Scotland. National pride is at stake as we invite Survivors from across the Land to front up to the challenge. The Welsh Capital is again the host location for the first event of this year’s Tri-Nations Series. So get down to Cardiff on 7th October 2012 and prepare to survive in style…

About the City

Croeso i Gaerdydd, y Porth i Cymru. Boasting an enormous castle, an even bigger Bay and more leeks, daffodils, and dragons than you can shake a stick at, this is Cardiff. The home of Charlotte Church and the only non-English club to win the FA Cup (a fair while back granted, in 1927) and voted by Men’s Health as best UK city in 2004 9also a fair while back!), this is a seriously fun place. We invite you to get into Survival mode on the streets of the Welsh capital on 7th October 2012 and enjoy Cardiff like you have never seen it before!
 
Event Location

The event village for the 2012 event will be located again at the spectacular Roald Dahl Plas in the “Oval Basin” events arena, next to the gleaming Wales Millennium Centre and the Welsh Assembly, right on the waterfront of Cardiff Bay. The action starts and finishes here, with a spectacular charge over the Hay Bale Wall starting the race right in front of the Wales Millennium Centre and a gruelling climb over the MH Wall of Fame on the menu for when you return, to the delight of the huge crowd that gathers here. With a route taking in both the city centre and the water-side elements of the City, the Cardiff course will be sensationally urban and probably quite “watery” too. In previous years, we have varied the course in advance of the event due to environmental factors in Cardiff Bay, but whatever the weather, do not expect to stay totally dry for this one! Pre-event or post, our base in the Oval Basin is also home to the many bars, shops and restaurants of the Mermaid Quay development next door to us and there is a real buzz around this smart new bit of the city.

Cardiff Course

The 2009, 2010 and 2011 courses blazed trails between our base at Cardiff Bay and the immense Millennium Stadium. This year, expect to see a slightly differnet route in places. We will be using Cardiff Bay Barrage for sure, but we might not be getting as far as the Millennium Stadium this time and possibly concentrating more around the Bay. Watch this space for route developments! You might experience one or two different obstacles en route from previous years too and almost certainly there will be new content added to the route, giving more obstacles. Do expect to see some old favourites like the Parkour Zone, the Hay Bale Wall, the Urban Jungle, Tissot Assault Course and the signature MH Wall of Fame, but be on your toes for some new kids on the block as we are designing some awesome new zones for Cardiff 2012. And with each zone packing between 1 and 10 obstacles per zone, you could be facing 50 obstacles + in Survival Cardiff over the 10 zones! In essence the course itself will remain quite similar to previous years, using a good chunk of Cardiff Bay, Barrage and Taff Embankment attractions. We will publish the route soon so watch this space for developments. Welcome to Cardiff and to Survival of the Fittest 2012.

Getting There

Road
Cardiff is on the M4 and a wee hop, skip and a jump across the Severn bridges for those travelling from Southern England. For those coming from the north, the M50 can bring you pretty quickly (and down a very very pretty road indeed) towards Cardiff via the Wye valley from Brum and beyond.

Rail
There is a small station at Cardiff Bay, right next to the event village which has connections from Cardiff Central. National rail sees direct trains run between London Paddington and Cardiff on the Great Western mainline. It takes around 2 hours from London. Connections between Cardiff and the South West of England are also strong via Bristol. To the north, cross country routes take you to and from the Midlands and beyond with ease. Please check timetables for further details.

Air
Cardiff International airport is a 45 minute train or bus ride away from the city centre.


Accommodation

There is plenty to choose from in Cardiff. From super stylish options in the city centre, to budget accommodation and magnificent out-of-town country house hotels, there is a good deal of choice. Try www.visitcardiff.com for a full run-down of options, plus superb info on what's on around town and in the surrounding valleys and mountains of the stunning Welsh countryside.


We'll see you there in Cardiff SOTF 2012!