Carwyn Fowler Zone 1 Trial 5th April

Cheap Suit · Post by **Cheap Suit** » 04 Apr 2005, 11:47

I will be attempting my first ever zone 1 challenge run tomorrow. I will be starting from Victoria (Victoria line, southbound) hopefully at around 10.30am. (I realise Victoria is not an option on May 20).

CrunchySaviour · Post by **CrunchySaviour** » 05 Apr 2005, 15:25

Good luck (although by the time I finish this post you may well have completed the challenge)!

Victoria, Victoria line southbound is a very interesting start location that suggests the use of the overground rail between Vauxhall and Waterloo...

Good to see my record is in jeopardy already!

G Force · Post by **G Force** » 08 Apr 2005, 20:07

Hmmm, Victoria is an odd starting point. Surely starting SB at Pimlico would be better, but then maybe Carwyn knows something we don't

Cheap Suit · Post by **Cheap Suit** » 12 Apr 2005, 10:12

My first ever challenge attempt started from Vauxhall. I Made rapid progress south of the Thames and got into (Bakerloo) and out of (Hamm. and City) Paddington OK. Hammersmith and City line OK from Padd. to Aldgate East. However I was unfamiliar with Aldgate run/walk and walked out of Aldgate East in the wrong direction, costing me 20 mins overall. Circle to Embankment where I quit. Feeling a bit unwell and also a 4 hour bus journey to Leeds ahead of me. I'm quite happy to divulge my route / times to anyone as I don't think I'm a serious challenger for records (though I think my time would have been competitive if I'd followed it through). I have detailed time splits which I may divulge when I get round to it.

geofftech · Post by **geofftech** » 12 Apr 2005, 13:09

trains

CrunchySaviour · Post by **CrunchySaviour** » 12 Apr 2005, 15:19

Well done for trying, Carwyn. You shouldn't get despondent so quickly - even as much as 20 minutes lost early on can be made up on the rest of the route. Look at my attempts: I've been delayed in all 3 of the ones that I managed to complete. The second one saw me sit in a train that was STANDING STILL for 10 whole minutes, and I still got a sub-3-hour time.

You must not give up. I did, twice, and look where that got me: nowhere.

Even on my fastest attempt, 2.52.47, I had to wait 12 minutes for a Hammersmith train when the theoretical maximum wait for such a train would be 8 minutes and hence the average wait 4 minutes.

Cheap Suit · Post by **Cheap Suit** » 13 Apr 2005, 14:01

Hey guys, thanks for the encouragement - didn't expect the plaudits, what a great community. Actually, I'm based in Cardiff. I went from Cardiff to Leeds *via London* so that I could have 3 hours to do the challenge. Part of the reason I quit was because my finishing point was *either* Russell Sq. *or* Queensway/Bayswater and that would have meant risking my coach connection at Victoria. I was also feeling very sticky after my Aldgate escapades. One lesson I learned was to wear minimum of light clothing. I also benefitted from foresight in carrying a large water bottle to rehydrate, though combination of water bottle and clipboard did impede running at times. Surprised at the knackering impact of running - Northern-Jubillee change at Westminster, Bakerloo-H&C change at Paddington.

My first few changes were quite remarkable (Victoria / Jubilee / Bakerloo south of the Thames), beginners luck no dubt. Bakerloo up to Paddington then dash to Hammersmith & City platform where I started feeling groggy. Am I correct in suspecting that Bakerloo from Elephant and Castle could be risky due to faffing about with train changeovers at the Bakerloo terminus? Cost me a couple of mins, could have been wors

Cheap Suit · Post by **Cheap Suit** » 13 Apr 2005, 14:17

Hi, I wonder if this data is of use to someone? I'm not that bothered about sharing it given that the competetive challenge is likely to randomised by starting station etc.

I would certainly be grateful for further discussion of individual elements of the course if anyone is up for it. Cheers, Carwyn

Route and time (mins:secs)
NB Good service on all lines.

Vaxhaull - Victoria: 3.25
Change: 1.20
Victoria - Sloane Sq: 1.38
Change:2.09
Sloane Sq-Westminster: 4.46
Change: 3.48
Westminster - London Bridge: 5.11
Change: 1.24
London Bridge - Elephant: 2.58
Change: 3.15
Elephant-Paddington (Bakerloo): 18.02
Paddington Bakerloo-Paddington Hammersmith and City (Run): 6.51
Paddington (Hammersmith and City)-Aldgate East: 20:41
Aldgate East-Aldgate (Run/walk): 20:32 (Arrrrrrrrrgh)
Aldgate - Embankment: 11.09

TOTAL TIME: 1hr:47:15

Incomplete sections:

Northern Line Loop Embankment-Bank (via Euston)
Central line
Piccadilly Line
Western section of Circle/District line

Oh yeah, I now realise that you were not joking when talking about knocking old ladies over etc...

CrunchySaviour · Post by **CrunchySaviour** » 13 Apr 2005, 16:23

"Good" (ie. no delays, which may or may not necessarily be "good") service on all lines is absolutely essential for this challenge.

Your Paddington change took an awfully long time. Mine is usually done in 3 minutes. This could be due to a number of things, into which I will go no further!

From this route, I see that you really don't like running between the stations. Your route includes 13 double-passes through stations, a number which could probably be reduced!

Cheap Suit · Post by **Cheap Suit** » 15 Apr 2005, 19:41

The reason I haven't planned runs is because I'm not familiar enough with London to do this - as I found out in Aldgate. As for Paddington, I ran it in about 2 or 3 minutes but spent quite a while waiting for the train on the platform...

CrunchySaviour · Post by **CrunchySaviour** » 16 Apr 2005, 10:50

Hammesmith trains are always a potential big delay. HYou have to be lucky with them!

G Force · Post by **G Force** » 17 Apr 2005, 10:42

Cheap Suit wrote: Am I correct in suspecting that Bakerloo from Elephant and Castle could be risky due to faffing about with train changeovers at the Bakerloo terminus? Cost me a couple of mins, could have been wors

It's probably better to depart Elephant&Castle on the Bakerloo, as opposed to arriving there. Whether you are arriving or departing, there is a pretty similar chance of how long you will have to wait for your Bakerloo line train (frequency is approx every 2.5-3.5mins during the day). Departing trains probably run on slightly more regular headways than arriving trains which have just had to run through the West End.

However, when arriving at Elephant&Castle the trains often have to queue to get through the scissors crossover and into the terminus, this can potentially add a few minutes to your time.

CrunchySaviour · Post by **CrunchySaviour** » 17 Apr 2005, 11:39

Departing E&C by the Bakerloo usually sees you board a waiting train at a red signal. If you're lucky, the driver will finish his tea break before the signal turns green.

If you're unlucky, however, it'll be another minute or two as the driver casually saunters out of the staff room holding his tea. ..

G Force · Post by **G Force** » 17 Apr 2005, 15:17

CrunchySaviour wrote:Departing E&C by the Bakerloo usually sees you board a waiting train at a red signal. If you're lucky, the driver will finish his tea break before the signal turns green.

If you're unlucky, however, it'll be another minute or two as the driver casually saunters out of the staff room holding his tea. ..

But, just because the train has a green signal doesn't always mean that it is ready to depart according to the timetable. Sometimes it just means that the train has a route selected through the crossover, which can be given up to about 2 mins before departure.

Cheap Suit · Post by **Cheap Suit** » 17 Apr 2005, 16:46

Departing E&C by the Bakerloo usually sees you board a waiting train at a red signal. If you're lucky, the driver will finish his tea break before the signal turns green.

Yes, this is what happened to me by all accounts. Many thanks for your comments!

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Carwyn Fowler Zone 1 Trial 5th April

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