Anniversary Run 2008 – Sunday 19th October

For our celebration of the club's 76th birthday, we're trying something new and exciting. This year's Anniversary Run will take the form of a Navigational Scatter Rally and, as it’s a first for the club, we thought a few words of explanation might be helpful.

What makes a Scatter different from other rallies is the absence of a prescribed route. There is more cunning strategy required on the competitors’ part. Crews are given a list of map references to plot at the start and can choose which locations they will attempt to visit and in what order. Every map reference relates to a question of varying difficulty, and all questions are worth points. The number of points available varies depending on the difficulty of the questions, and the distance from the start / finish venue. However, competitors are only marked on 75% of the answers, so part of the strategy is to work out which locations to visit and which to ignore in order to achieve the best score within the allotted time frame.

It is not worth having a guess at an answer, as incorrect answers are marked with a negative score. The penalties for lateness are also worth avoiding. There is a lot of fun to be had, trying to outwit the opposition, plot the optimum route, and get to as many high point locations as possible. There is also an element of subtlety involved in finding an answer when rival teams are also searching at the same location.

Our Anniversary Run will start and finish Culcreuch Castle in Fintry, with signing on and scrutineering starting at 13:30. Competitors will be able to select up to 12 locations they will attempt to visit from a total of 16 map references on OS Landranger Sheet 57. The total distance covered should be about 75 miles and crews arriving back at the finish within two and a half hours of starting will incur no time penalties.

Because we want as many motor sport enthusiasts as possible to share in our celebrations, we're inviting both Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities, plus Lanarkshire, Coltness, Monklands and East Ayrshire car clubs to join us. We're also allowing extra passengers to be carried in addition to the traditional crew of driver and navigator, the only restrictions being that everyone must be over 12 years old and must be a member of one of the invited clubs.

So how much, I hear you ask, is all this going to cost? Well we think that we've provided excellent value for money by charging only £10 per car for a 75 mile rally. And SSCC members can still benefit from the current promotional discount that allows every member to deduct a discount of £5 from their entry fee – so if both driver and navigator are club members, they get to compete for free! For those that want to finish the day off with a celebration meal (and we hope that you all will), we have organized with our friends at Culcreuch Castle to provide delicious bowls of soup and a hot buffet for the fantastic cost of only £10 per person.

So, if you fancy a drive around some of the most scenic roads in Central Scotland when the autumn colours are at their best, with a lot of light-hearted competition thrown in, followed by a great meal and banter, download the Regs and Entry Form from www.scottishsportingcarclub.org.uk or contact Louise Shanahan at 57 Brookfield Drive, Robroyston, Glasgow G33 1RZ (e-mail louiseshanahan@googlemail.com). Entries will be strictly limited to the first 25 received, so don't hang about. Anyone holding back is running the risk of being turned away if the entry list is already full.

We're hoping that the plans for our birthday celebrations will hit the right balance between competitive challenge, scenic touring and simple good fun – but we need you to come along to Fintry on 19th October and tell us if we've got it right.