Scottish Adventure Race Series

About Us

John Laughlin
Race Planner and Director

Being possibly the youngest Adventure Race planner in the world, is not something that fazes the bairn of the Detail Events team. He’s always been a youngster in a mostly middle aged sport, but experience has been gained quickly by throwing himself into bigger and harder challenges each year.

Now racing as regularly as he can leading his own team, or pawning himself out to anyone else that’s willing to suffer his singing in the hills.

Coming from a mountain bike endurance background, (the youngest ever 24hr race soloist in the UK), he has a passion for the hills and adventure, a willingness to enjoy whatever conditions are thrown at him, and a love of racing while using his head.

John lives mostly near Glasgow, Chamonix, on his bike, or in his fell shoes.

Gary Tompsett
Planning advisor

The legend that walks but mostly runs that is Gary Tompsett. Gary cut his teeth in orienteering and then went onto a successful lifestyle of mountain marathons, fell running, enduro MTB stuff and adventure racing before turning his attention to adventure race course design.

Having started with his very own cult classic event 'Man of Porage,' he was then involved in Adrenalin Rush from the first year and designed the epic Scotland course in 2001.

Red Bull Northern Exposure 2002 and the Hebridean Challenge 2003 followed this. This was all before the 2004 Scottish year of the Rat and the subsequent success of bringing three Rat Races to the UK in 2005.

Gary lives mostly near Glasgow, remote bothies in the Highlands, or friends flats in Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester.

Detail Events

The team that brought the Rat Race Urban Adventure to the world in 2004 has blossomed from a sprightly wee nipper into a rippling pulsing athlete of an events company. The chief at the helm of the Detail kayak, Jim Mee, came up with the idea for the Rat Race while watching his pee freeze in a bottle during a mountaineering trip in Peru.

Combined with the ‘creative’ imagination and experience of legendary racer Gary Tompsett, they brought AR to the masses in 2005 with three Rat Races and in a partnership with ACE Races, the expedition length Wilderness ARC. This five day race in the Scottish Highlands was so successful in its first year that it has been chosen to be the World Adventure Racing Championships in 2007. They are also the new team behind the legendary Polaris Challenge mountain bike events.