Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

All you need to know and discuss about the 2011 Zone 1 Challenge.
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palkanetoijala31

Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

it was a great day and very well organised by Roger and Martin again perhaps though he should let the reins go for next year as it isnt doing him any favours winning it.!

Our Route was as follows hearing that St Pauls was drawn was good gave us plenty of time to startegise a route plan before 1pm probably about 40m to come up with something.

We decided on going Westbound all the way to Queensway seems a few people thought of this blasting out of the station i narrowly missed a train at Bayswater if i have jumped the barrier and landed on the train and slipped down i have made it but alas not too be and waited at least 6m for next train probably cost us a possible win.?Earls Court we went down to the Pic and alighted at Russell square for the Goodge Street run some knowing this better than others even myself had to follow someone but i believe all the teams that did the run made it.

Goodge Street up to Euston and switch the branches down towards Moorgate we were in the door position for a Moorgate switch with a few other teams it was at this point i thought why now switch from the others in order to get a better or slower time wiv a different route so we went to the back for a bank switch.

Realising that 1 team had come up with the same idea at least we had split 4 teams into 2 with similar routes out at bank and a run to central line then a switch to Circle/met for Aldgate everybody out of breath for this but i still made a good Aldgate east run just in case to hold up For UEFAcup81 and The raven (who in his 1st challenge did really well running wise)proceeded to Sloane square for a double back and missed the connection by a second my fingers nearly got the door but not quite.

Victoria train in platform and kevin squeezed on with us went down to vauxhall and got a nice train into waterloo probs even one of the best platforms and Jubilee To London bridge and change to Northern southbound to Elephant & Castle where again we missed a train by seconds arriving down there at bakerloo platforms.

Seeing as Kevin & Nozza and us three had basically had the same route idea we were all going to have the same time unless one team got ahead at Paddington so transfered over and agonisingly arriving in barbican saw the magical 3h mark just slip by despairingly for Kevin by 11s.
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by The Raven »

I'm thinking of getting a T-Shirt with the back slogan saying...

"If you can see this, sorry for barging into you"

Also, big thank you to the organisers and the cider!
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Nigel »

My day went as follows.

I had prepared a couple of 'core routes' and had thought about a number of tweaks that could be applied if certain stations came out. When it was St Pauls I knew that I wasn't particularly happy with using one of the core routes. I contemplated finding a quiet corner to replan, but decided to be sociable and showed a few people a scenic walking route from Liverpool Street to St Pauls, and just to stick with my original ideas.

Going East there at the rear of the platform were me, Soupie & team mate, and Garion and girlfriend. We could also see a few people further up, presumably going to change at Bank. No great luck on the first few changes - time for a very gentle jog back to Aldgate knowing that there would be a wait for the Circle Line. I was operating independently, often picking different doors and a different route on one of the runs. Garion's girlfriend left early on and then his route split from ours at Waterloo - but by this time it was becoming increasingly obvious that Soupie's team was going to be doing the same route as me.

As I had never really done a challenge with anyone before (other than my 9 year old son) and at last year's Zone 1 I went in different direction to everyone else at the first change, it was interesting to compare styles. I clearly don't have the right technique for going up or down escalators, as wherever they were encountered Soupie gained a good few yards. However, on the longer outside runs I had the clear advantage. Going from Goodge Street to Russell Square I had gained about 50 yards only to be thwarted by the lights changing just as I got to Gower Street, and again giving up a twenty yard advantage waiting for the lights at Russell Square.

At Earls Court we bumped into Garion again, but he had more to do to finish than we did. I thought the last chance to make a break from Soupie would be on the short Bayswater to Queensway run. I had chosen to use Oyster, because I find it quicker, and on most routes I should stay within the Zone 1 time limit. However, I realised that this route didn't - oh well, a maximum fare on top of the travelcard rate. It was therefore exceptionally galling when my Oyster failed to open the gate at Bayswater, and I wasted 30 seconds seeking assistance to be let out the side gate. I had to dig really deep to just to catch the others at the entrance to Queensway.

So three of us finished together at Chancery Lane in 3h 8m 26s, which although faster for me than last year, I knew wouldn't be quick enough to challenge for the top positions. This was confirmed when we got back to the pub to find Hakan & Patrick looking very comfortable half way through their first pints. I had a nice chat with Hakan who I had not met before, and joined his quiz team. I think he thought I might be able to help on British popular culture, but he and Patrick knew more about Bristish TV than I did.

Today I'm a bit stiff and aching, possibly a combination of doing the Overground Challenge on Tuesday and the Zone 1 on Friday. As I had to take my son out elsewhere today, I was rather glad that I wasn't doing a Random 15.
Last edited by Nigel on 05 Jun 2011, 12:02, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Root »

Will someone be posting a list of teams and times?
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by The Raven »

My favourite parts of the day include:
-Kevin, Nozza and James getting chatted up by a couple of old ladies on the Bakerloo line
-The religious guy on the Piccadilly line giving a speech but getting completely drowned out by the train
-Andi flying out off the train only to fall over on the escalator, still that man can run!
-The cake sale on the run between Goodge street and Russell square
-Me trying to hit the bulls eye in darts and missing the board!
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by RichieG »

Still can't believe I (well, me and StonePony) came last despite the fact that we still had to wait at least an hour for Garion to arrive at the pub... surely some strange shenanigans going on there...

For once, I didn't do that bad - just over 3h 35m for it, interesting taking a newbie around with me too, who I must say did get into it after a while and the 'Well, I can't say 'run', more of a walk' attitude that I generally subscribe to did change to 'we need to sprint'! Not a problem really, though the first street-level interchange between Queensway and Bayswater we did a fastish stroll, yet still caught the same Wimbleware and subsequently Piccadilly line trains. It was also good to be able to plan a route and have somebody else to bounce off of.

Anyway, I'll put a route and report up when I get home; maybe tomorrow (on the train back!) or on Monday.
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Steeevooo »

The Raven wrote:My favourite parts of the day include:
-Me trying to hit the bulls eye in darts and missing the board!
That's okay - in tonights post R15 darts event, greatkingrat finally managed to get a dart to stick into the board when bullying up on the twentieth attempt!
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by tangy »

Full results will be posted up tomorrow, when I am a little less zzzzz
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by greatkingrat »

Steeevooo wrote:That's okay - in tonights post R15 darts event, greatkingrat finally managed to get a dart to stick into the board when bullying up on the twentieth attempt!
To be fair, you have missed out one rather important detail!
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Steeevooo »

greatkingrat wrote:
Steeevooo wrote:That's okay - in tonights post R15 darts event, greatkingrat finally managed to get a dart to stick into the board when bullying up on the twentieth attempt!
To be fair, you have missed out one rather important detail!
True, but it doesn't sound so impressive otherwise ;)
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Going Underground »

Steeevooo wrote:
greatkingrat wrote:
Steeevooo wrote:That's okay - in tonights post R15 darts event, greatkingrat finally managed to get a dart to stick into the board when bullying up on the twentieth attempt!
To be fair, you have missed out one rather important detail!
True, but it doesn't sound so impressive otherwise ;)
Yes the important detail we worked out was the shape of the flights :wink:

OK back to topic, well done and thank you Roger and Tangy for organising another smooth and enjoyable Z1 day...... :D
St Pauls was a tricky starter, although some would have been worse and the 1st time a station has been drawn "inside" the Bottle/Circle Line...
Plenty of time to sit in the Liverpool Street sun and look at routes before heading West....
My day and started interestingly when researching The Goodge Street :arrow: Russell Sq run I had turned the wrong way out of the station and ended up walking past the Horse & Groom to GPS :roll: :? So I got to Liverpool Street later than anticipated and rather hot 'n' bothered, still at least the experience gave me inspiration for the eventual winning team name....

Andi has pretty much covered our route, leaving the last train at Paddington I just had this gut feeling we wouldn't break the 3 hour barrier, which I still have to do as we finsihed on 3 00 11... Which I guess must be a PB anyway 8)

Our team was in a complete lather by the time we had run The Aldgate's, which was the last part of a crazy few frantic changes that had started with the Russell Sq :arrow: Goodge St run through the college grounds, slightly longer than the going through the building up and down the ramp....

Congratulations to Hakan and team for what turned out to be a comfortable victory and having won the trophy for a 3rd time they will keep this and kindly replace with a new one for 2012 :)

Finally it was good to many old friends again and to spend some time with the newbies, The Raven and Stone Pony....

It has been a not and hectic couple of days with yesterdays R15, details will follow on relevant thread....
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Garion »

RichieG wrote:Still can't believe I (well, me and StonePony) came last despite the fact that we still had to wait at least an hour for Garion to arrive at the pub... surely some strange shenanigans going on there...
Well as already mentioned, I still had more to do so naturally I would have finished later. Also I went to South Kensington to pick up Rebecca and then we made our way to the pub via McDonalds on Oxford Street. Sorry to keep you guys waiting but thanks for the warm welcome ;).

Anyway my day was like this. We started out from my girlfriends house only to realise that on the approach to Paddington, we were going to miss the meeting up time due to both of us misreading the timetables. After a few frantic calls and texts, I managed to arrange having the starting station sent to my by text. We decided that upon arrival at London, we would go to Oxford Circus as being a central location, we could easily get to the starting station, and I was particularly happy when I was told it was St Pauls.

Arriving there, and after meeting up with Hakan & Co, I put those ten or so tube maps I took to good use and tried to compile a route. After realising that I wasnt going to find a winning route, I just concentrated on getting a route that would finish in a reasonable time.

Starting at St Pauls on the eastbound platform, me, my girlfriend, Anthony & the others went up to Liverpool Street for a change onto the Hammersmith & City Line. We then realised that we had the same route for the first part of the challenge.

Knowing there was a 6 minute wait, me and Rebecca decided to walk the Aldgate run. It was then I found out that I was going to be ditched at Sloane Square as she wanted to go to the Science Museum. Arriving at Sloane Square, and seeing a train pull out, after saying goodbye, I walked over to the other platform. I believe it was here that me and Anthony discussed his football injury (ouch!)

Changing at Victoria and going down to Vauxhall, and then over to Waterloo and down to London Bridge, this was pretty much the usual. It was when we got onto the Bakerloo line that we parted ways. I left at Waterloo and went onto the Northern Line to go up to Euston and run to Euston Square. Over to Kings Cross and down to Moorgate, I missed a westbound train by ten seconds so had to wait four minutes for the next one. After running to Chancery Lane from Farringdon, I went to TCR and straight away caught a train back to Holborn and just made a train up to Russel Square to double-back. I was going to do TCR later but decided to get it out of the way. Going southbound all the way to South Kensington, I caught a District Line train to Earls Court and then went up to Bayswater for the run. It was here that I met back up with Anthony and his team so we all did the Bayswater run and stuck around until Oxford Circus where I got off and went north on the Bakerloo. Alighting at Regents Park, I did the GPS run for the first time and again just missed a train by a matter of seconds. After a 3 min wait for the next one, I went over to Paddington (H&C) and ran to the Other Paddington to get a train to Marylebone where I finished with a time of 3:25:22.

I then went to South Ken to get Rebecca and then made our way to the pub but after taking a quick detour to Mcdonalds where I happily filled up on some much needed food and drink.

Our day was not exactly over as upon arriving at Paddington Mainline, we were greeted with the site of a very overcrowded station and a train at EVERY platform (something neither of us have seen before). Turns out that the train we caught was an hour late due to a massive signal failure at Burnham which at Reading, made the train 92 mins late (so late the guard even said "92 mins, thats the numbers NINE-TWO minutes late). Our train was so packed, people were standing/sitting down in the aisles of the train.

But ending on a high note, I did have a nice chinese afterwards ;)

Good points of the day:
Having quite a few "sexy changes"
Not coming last ;)
Downing a large Sprite at Mcdonalds before the pub.

Bad points:
Being ditched :P
Missing a few trains by mere seconds
Having to sit on a crowded HST while suffering the effects of dehydration.

Once again, big thanks to Tangy & Roger for organising it. Once again, you've done a brilliant job :) Hope to be there next year :D
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by tangy »

Here follows the official Zone 1 2011 results.

We had 17 challengers split into 10 teams, all the teams completed all 64 stations within the 4 hour limit. So in reverse order....

10. "Best team name? Best time? We don't stand a Chancery Lane" (Richie Graham & Bob [StonePony]) finishing at Russell Square in 03:35:05.

9. "I was hoping for an Epping good time" (Garion Allen & Rebecca Brown [16 stations visited]) finishing at Marylebone in 03:25:22.

7=. "Circle of Horrors" (David Scard & Antony Brown) finishing at Chancery Lane in 03:08:26.

7=. "I don't want to go to Kensington (Olympia)" (Nigel White) finishing at Chancery Lane in 03:08:26.

5=. "Little and Large" (Matt Nunn & Matthew Scrivin) finishing at Liverpool Street in a time of 03:06:23.

5=. "Morden Warfare" (Peter Smyth) finishing at Liverpool Street in a time of 03:06:23.

4. "I can't get a word in Edg-wares" (Tangy) finishing at Covent Garden in a time of 03:06:19.

2=. "Ken can't, but Barbican" (Andi James, James Laughlin & Glen Bryant) finishing at Barbican in a time of 03:00:11

2=. "Tottering & Sweatsoaked" (Kevin Brown & Damian Cook) finishing at Barbican in 03:00:11
**This team was awarded the best team name (judged by the organisers)**

1. "The usual suspects AKA "Why are we alone in the pub?"" (Hakan Wolge & Patrick Sillen) finishing at Vauxhall in a time of 02:52:06

So congratulations to Hakan and Patrick, who have won this prestigious event for the third time and thus have won the right to keep the trophy for themselves. Don't worry a new one will be bought for next year, we hope! Time to retire the Z1 bag until next year.

Tangy (and Roger)
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by hwolge »

So what can I say? First challenge in a couple of years for us. Did some last minute recceing in the morning (including possible St. Paul's runs to/from Barbican and Mansion house). Also found out that crossing the traffic between Aldgate & Aldgate East has become a lot easier over the past two years.
I had a hunch that the TCR thing could be a real advantage to us. My computer software came up with a completely new set of routes. Some where quite interesting. However, as usual Vauxhall came up as the finishing point in the vast majority of them. For some reason no other team went for a Vauxhall finish. I also understand that quite a few teams went for the Russell Square - Goodge Street run, that somehow looked attractive with TCR on Northern out of play. That is a tough run and it takes its runner to make it worthwhile. However, in the end, had not the tube gods been on our side, we could easily had been 10 minutes slower...
Now the challenge is to come up with a new Cup for next year, worthy of the prestigeous event!
:) Three times Zone 1 Challenge winner :)
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Re: Zone 1 2011 with Tangy (and Roger)

Post by Starkey7 »

So from Goodge Street to Russell Square, it's best to run through the great hall of the University of London? :D

I still like my running route from High Street Kensington to Earls Court that takes you through a branch of Boots.
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