Beyond the Bosphorus 2027 | Lupine Racing | Where Travel and Racing Meet

Beyond the Bosphorus: Istanbul to Yerevan, September 2027!

Get ready for a brand-new autumn adventure. Beyond the Bosphorus picks up where our classic London to Istanbul races leave off, breaking new ground in the Caucasus and finishing in Armenia.

The race begins on a Saturday morning in Istanbul, and finishes the following Saturday in Yerevan, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with our awards party bringing the week to a close.

New for 2027, after a trial at our 2026 Istanbul race: any tiebreaks in the top 10 fastest will be resolved via a Metro Mayhem, a city based challenge held on the Saturday morning in Yerevan.

Beyond the Bosphorus also continues Lupine Racing's long-running spy theme, weaving another thread into the story we've been telling across our events. Catch up on the story so far on our Race Lore page.

What to Expect

This event is a hybrid of our linear first-to-finish and treasure hunt points races. There are three ways to compete:

Fastest Finish

Follow the race route through the mandatory checkpoints, and pick up a minimum points requirement from optional rest breaks, extra checkpoints or bonus tasks completed anywhere en route. Once you've hit the minimum tariff, you're free to cross the finish line. Fastest time wins.

Most Points

Prefer a scavenger hunt to beating the clock? Compete to gain the most points instead, picking up the highest score you can by visiting checkpoints and completing bonus tasks.

Low Spend

Keep your travel costs low and you could take home our Savvy Award, given to the racer who spends the least getting to the finish line (covering transport only).

Since the game zone for this race is limited to Türkiye, Georgia and Armenia, country counting isn't a viable format.

Starts in Istanbul, ends in Yerevan

Format : Hybrid (Classic and Treasure Hunt)

Dates: 4-11 September 2027
Event capacity: Limited

Start
Meet from 09:00 for a 10:30 start
Istanbul (venue TBC)

End
Yerevan (venue TBC)
Cut-off at 16:00 local time
Awards party from 18:00-21:00, with the presentation at around 18:30

Pricing
Adult Entry: £265 GBP / €309.50 EUR / $360 USD

Under-18 Entry: 30% discount off the standard entry price (approx. £185.50 / €216.65 / $252.00), based on the entrant's age when the race begins. Under-18s must be accompanied by an over-18.

Checkout will support multiple currencies, so you can pay in whichever of the three suits you best.

Payment plans are available, letting you spread the cost over up to 6 months.

Prizes

Prizes to be confirmed closer to launch.

League Points

50 for a finish
Bonuses for top places
Find out more about league points

Availability: entries are open. This covers the first batch of 50 places; if there's more demand, we'll open a second batch.

Includes
- A full week of organised racing and challenges, Istanbul to Yerevan
- Race pack on the start line with everything you need for the checkpoints, plus event resources and a live Q&A briefing sent out 3 weeks ahead
- Use of our Smartphone based tracking app, live maps and leaderboards, with a post race replay of your own route: see an example here
- Are you in a tiebreak within the top 10? We'll give you free entry to the bolt-on Saturday Metro Mayhem to settle it fairly, without a foot race at the end. Click for full details
- Local Experts: at least one local expert from Türkiye, Georgia and Armenia on hand in the mid-race community for tips and support
- A pop-up finish line waiting for our fastest arrivals, plus a staffed finish line team in Yerevan from 17:00-19:00, Tuesday to Friday, with a longer slot on the Saturday feeding straight into the Awards party
- Awards party in Yerevan with a welcome drink
- Early finishers socials held each night in Yerevan, so you're never stuck waiting around on your own once you've crossed the line
- Our mid race layover social, held midweek in a city roughly halfway along the route, a chance to catch your breath and swap stories with fellow racers before the push on to Yerevan
- An invite into our private Discord and mid-race community, to connect with past, present and future racers along the road
- Fun daily challenges throughout the race, with prizes ranging from event merchandise to extra drinks at the awards party
- Eligibility for prizes and novelty awards, complete with trophy and kudos. Prizes to be confirmed
- Eco friendly finishers medal, plus a wristband and stickers for every racer
- Round-the-clock support: a live chat community, support hotline and our team on email throughout the race
Excludes

Transport and accommodation costs
Optional Extras

Metro Mayhem Istanbul: details still being finalised, but expect a warm-up event in Istanbul on the Friday from 13:00-16:00, ahead of Saturday's start (TBC)
Metro Mayhem Tiebreaker (Non-Qualifying Entry): not tied for a top 10 fastest finish? You can still join the Yerevan Metro Mayhem for a reduced rate (amount to be confirmed)

Optional Merchandise: add extra event merch to your entry, ready to collect at the start line

Post-Race Mini-Tour: a short, optional guided tour around Armenia after the race, for anyone wanting to explore a little further before heading home. See the full itinerary
Visa Information

This event starts in Türkiye and finishes in Armenia, crossing through Georgia along the way. Check visa/entry requirements for Turkey, Georgia and Armenia for your nationality well ahead of the race. If you need advice about visas, get in touch.

The Yerevan Metro Mayhem Tiebreaker

On some of our races, we've had multiple contenders for the win arrive together on the same last bus or train into the city. We don't want a week of savvy transport planning to come down to a sprint across a car park, so here's how we settle things fairly if it happens. We're also working on adding more mechanics to our races to make it less likely.

Any group of finishers placed in the top 10 who arrive into Yerevan on the same piece of public transport will initially be recorded as tied on the finish line. Their final order within the group will then be decided at a dedicated tiebreaker event, The Yerevan Metro Mayhem, held on the Saturday morning from 10:00-13:00, well ahead of the awards party that evening.

If you'd rather head home early and skip it, that's completely fine, but you will be automatically relegated to last place within your tied group.

Example: four racers arrive into Yerevan on the same bus and all tie for the same position. One of them travels home early and misses the Metro Mayhem, so they automatically take 4th place of the four. The Metro Mayhem then determines the final placings of the other three.

Not in a top 10 tie? You can still join in. We'll be running a parallel version of the Metro Mayhem open to any entrant who fancies it. Since it's outside the official tiebreak, there's a fee to enter the parallel event if you're not already part of one of the genuine top 10 tiebreak groups (amount to be confirmed).