Random 15 Championship 2024/25: Round 3

[miklcct]

I'll be there.

[hopeful traveller]

Moorgate is one station, one barrier line for both LU and NR (Northern City Line).

Is it? It wasn't last time I was there, I ran along the entire Crossrail platform from the Central Line at Liverpool Street, up to the subsurface at Moorgate and then back down to the NCL via two gatelines.

The Crossrail platforms are named as Liverpool Street, not Moorgate so you cannot claim a visit of Moorgate solely on XR (same as Bank and Monument - although they are linked, they are two separate named stations).

Sorry Tangy, I wasn’t very clear:

I’m fairly certain I had to go through gatelines changing from (effectively) Moorgate Met to Moorgate NCL.

[miklcct]

Moorgate is one station, one barrier line for both LU and NR (Northern City Line).

Is it? It wasn't last time I was there, I ran along the entire Crossrail platform from the Central Line at Liverpool Street, up to the subsurface at Moorgate and then back down to the NCL via two gatelines.

The Crossrail platforms are named as Liverpool Street, not Moorgate so you cannot claim a visit of Moorgate solely on XR (same as Bank and Monument - although they are linked, they are two separate named stations).

Sorry Tangy, I wasn’t very clear:

I’m fairly certain I had to go through gatelines changing from (effectively) Moorgate Met to Moorgate NCL.

I am 100% sure that it is possible to transfer without crossing any gates between Moorgate (Met) and Moorgate (Northern and NCL).

[miklcct]

Unfortunately I was not available in the previous 2 rounds so this is the first I participate in this year.

I decided to try something new in this round. First, I decided to plot all the 15 stations on the map first before deciding which way to go. Second, I started to use Aubin (a highly customisable journey planning app in public beta - I'm using an internal testing version which allows me to force change points) to plan for connections.

I spent a few minutes at the start to mark all the 15 stations on OsmAnd, and decided to go from the north to the south and visit all the stations in the northern part of Zone 2 first.

I decided to go to Belsize Park first. I entered Bond Street (1) station for the Elizabeth line and boarded an eastbound train at 12:37:07, and changed at Tottenham Court Road for the Northern line. I got the 50% luck right and the train was for Edgware, and visited Belsize Park (2) at 12:52:54, and then immediately headed back to the opposite direction back to Camden Town.

I ran to Camden Road with 2 minutes to spare before a 10-minute gap, passing through Caledonian Road & Barnsbury (3) on my way east, but unfortunately luck wasn't on my side at Hackney. The countdown for a Weaver line stopping service approached 1 minute at Hackney Downs by the time I arrived Hackney Central (13:14:13) (and 4 minutes at London Fields), so I would have to wait for nearly 15 minutes for the next one if I used the Bethnal Green / Whitechapel route to reach Bromley-by-Bow.

I exited the station to run to London Fields (4), and the southbound train appeared on my top as I was passing through the underpass on the final approach. Having missed the southbound train, I headed back north to Hackney Downs (13:22:40 - 13:24:35) for another Mildmay line train, and left (13:28:57) before the next southbound stopping Weaver line even arrived.

I configured my journey planner to the fast mode (i.e. no reluctance on any modes of transport, no slack in changing trains) and set the walking speed to the maximum (about 8.5 km/h), and queried for a route to Bromley-by-bow. When I was at London Fields it only told me to wait for the next southbound train to Whitechapel, but after I returned to Hackney Central, it provided me various options via Stratford such as via Miles End, DLR to Bow Church, etc. When I finally reached Stratford and called the planner again, it told me to travel via West Ham so I ran to the Jubilee line and boarded a train at 13:40:26.

Unfortunately, the journey planner thought that I would miss an H&C train at West Ham and I would board a District train, and that's true in reality. An H&C train was just gone when I arrived the platform. I boarded the next District train at 13:47:02, passed through Bromley-by-bow (5), and continued west. I called the journey planner again for Moorgate and it suggested me to change at Mile End for the Central line, and change again at Bank or walk from Liverpool Street. However, I was a minute behind schedule on my District train and, when I was at Mile End, the next Central train was 3 minutes away, so I decided to ignore the planner and continued to Whitechapel for the Elizabeth line. I got out at Liverpool Street (low level) which has a direct connection to Moorgate, then a Metropolitan line train from Moorgate (6) (14:03:26), passing through Euston Square (7) to Baker Street.

I changed to the Jubilee line, passing through Bond Street again, then Westminster (8) and Waterloo (9). At that point I had to make a decision if I would do Elephant & Castle (LU) first ending at Clapham High Street, or put it at the very end. I thought that the journey from Clapham North to Elephant & Castle is long, so I got off, took the Bakerloo to Elephant & Castle (10), Northern to London Bridge, then another Jubilee to Bermondsey (11) (14:43:04).

Unfortunately the timing was not right there as the next train from South Bermondsey was 7 minutes away for 1.6 km between stations (10 minutes would be possible for me to make the connection), so I had to take the one 22 minutes away. During the jog I called the journey planner from South Bermondsey to Loughborough Junction, forcing a change at Herne Hill, expecting the get the timing of the 15:06 train from South Bermondsey. Unfortunately the fastest available result from the journey planner was the 15:19 train for the 15:42 Thameslink train from Herne Hill because the 15:27 Thameslink train from Herne Hill was cancelled!!

My plan was ****** and I had to face another dilemma. Should I wait for the next train from Herne Hill to Loughborough Junction or should I go to Clapham High Street first (I had only South Bermondsey, North Dulwich, Loughborough Junction and Clapham High Street left in my planned order). I had to make the decision by the time the train pulled into North Dulwich but unfortunately, the beta software I was using was extremely slow if any via points are specified for the journey planner, and I hadn't got enough information to make an informed decision. I ended up making up the wrong choice - going to Clapham High Street first by running to Denmark Hill. I boarded the 15:06 train at South Bermondsey (12) and alighted at North Dulwich (13) at 15:17:15. Then I ran to Denmark Hill and boarded the Windrush line at 15:36:51 - an utter waste of time, arriving Clapham High Street (14) at 15:41:06. I then needed to go to the final station, Loughborough Junction, and board any train to complete the challenge. The trains for both directions were scheduled to depart at 15:45, then 16:00, but at that time my journey planner was suggesting 16:01 as the earliest arrival, meaning that I would miss a train again!

Unfortunately the beta journey planning software I was using only had live times for National Rail services but not the tube at this moment, and I chose the top result of travelling one stop on the Northern to Stockwell, one stop on the Victoria to Brixton (with 2 minutes in between), and the Victoria line was out of action when I reached Stockwell!!!

I only had 10 minutes left for the 16:00 trains at Loughborough Junction and the run was 2 km, which was extremely tight for my ability on a flat course.

I saw a P5 bus when I ran to Loughborough Road / Hopton House and promptly boarded it (15:58:14), and alighted at the next stop 213 m away (15:59:18), and rushed into Loughborough Junction (15) station hoping to make one of the 16:00 trains. Unfortunately the southbound train to Herne Hill and Sutton was just departed, however the northbound train to Elephant & Castle and St Albans was still pulling into the platform, and I boarded that train at 16:01:11 (1 minute late - that minute was crucial!), completing the challenge at the next stop when the doors opened at Elephant & Castle (NR) at 16:04:31.

It was such an unfortunate day for me to time a few critical stations with 15-minute service wrong, such as London Fields and South Bermondsey, and a Thameslink cancellation further ruined my final route, and I was so tired doing the runs of Hackney Central - London Fields, Bermondsey - South Bermondsey, North Dulwich - Denmark Hill and Stockwell - nearly Loughborough Junction, the most running for me in a Random 15 challenge.

[hopeful traveller]

The day started with a recce via Oxford Circus to see whether that was a viable alternative starting point given Bond Street’s eastern entrance was the starting point. It wasn’t viable, and so at 12:30 we ticked over and I had already resigned myself to running down the Crossrail escalator. I duly did so, found Moorgate straight away on the list and thought immediately of taking Crossrail; then I picked up James Ramsbottom‘s list of stations and returned them to him because I always play fair… (I’m hoping that that’s worth an extra point perhaps, or one off James‘s total in June?).

Anyway quite a few people took this Crossrail train and now I made my only mistake of the day. With the benefit of hindsight I should have got out at Farringdon and doubled back to Euston Square: I didn’t, I stayed on with Tangy, Rhys J, and James R to Liverpool Street, where we all ran to Moorgate and then got the Circle Line back to Liverpool Street (yeah, I know: bonkers). We all tried desperately to make a 1-minute at Liverpool Street NR to get up the Lea Valley lines (I refuse to call them by their silly new names) and then whilst Tangy bailed, Rhys, James, and I waited at Bethnell Green for a further 15 minutes to go up to London Fields and then Hackney Downs. (In hindsight I should’ve got off at Farringdon knowing that we could never have made that connection at Liverpool Street and saved myself 15 minutes of waiting plus potentially saving a huge amount of time later on not having to consider Euston Square.)

Although I completely buggered up the door position at Hackney Downs (and dragged Rhys J down with me) all three of us still made the 4-minute connection over to the North London line at Hackney Central. We all crawled along this, through Caledonian Road & Barnsbury, and then chose different moments to bail to get over to the Northern Line. I bailed at Camden Road: good move as it turned out, despite this turning out to be a horrendous change in isolation. I lumbered along the road nowhere near top pace (I was so tired having done three changes/runs already) and when I got to Camden Town the lift and escalators were not working (at least in the downward direction), crowd control entry was in operation, my Oyster card then baulked at the gateline, and then I had to go down 96 spiral stairs at a snail’s pace in a crowd. Despite this, I still made a good train up to Belsize Park and back… and then threw away my one-train lead over James and Rhys when I decided to wimp out out of the Euston run and change at Camden Town for a Bank train, but with none coming down the High Barnet branch James and Rhys caught me up again on a Bank train ex Edgware.

Ironically, the wimp-out worked! Despite going up the wrong stairs at King’s Cross I still made the same Uxbridge train as James (who had run the correct route) and the same train as Rhys (who had done the Euston run). James got out at Euston Square, whilst Rhys and I then took the Met to Baker Street, then down the Jubilee through Westminster to Waterloo (yes, we went to Bond Street again for a second time), at which point I got out at Waterloo and took a SWR train to Clapham Junction, wait 4 minutes for the South London Line where I run into Andrew C, who then could not shake me off for the rest of the day despite his best efforts.

We went to Clapham High Street, ran to Clapham North and saw James are passing us in the other direction. Up to Elephant & Castle where we somehow - despite the ridiculous route you now have to go to get to the NR station - made a very tight connection on to what proved to be the last running Thameslink from that station for 45 minutes (I feel particularly sorry for Rhys who missed my train by less than a minute and duly “got Thameslinked”). Through Loughborough Junction, down to Tulse Hill (at which point my leg absolutely snapped and I duly limped all my remaining runs). Andrew decided he didn’t fancy waiting 7 minutes at Tulse Hill and walked from Herne Hill to Dulwich North (which, given there was 0.6 miles for not even a theoretical gain, makes no sense to me). We went up through South Bermondsey to London Bridge (Andrew’s shithousery was extraordinary as he tried to dupe me into thinking South Bermondsey was his last station), ran to the Jubilee Line where Andrew left me behind unsurprisingly (not helped by the fact I got stuck behind two girls going down stairs in roller skates). Happily the Jubilee gateline was open but unless there was one of the Jubilee’s long gaps I knew I was done for; a footrace had finally cost me a train… but amazingly the train Andrew would have caught was not in service. That still kept us level pegging.

Through Bermondsey and we got off at West Ham - I was monitoring the departure board for the District Line at West Ham as I was on the Jubilee, and as we were pulling into West Ham it said 1 min, 2 mins, 6 mins. I thought the 1 was gone for both of us but I thought Andrew could make the 2 and I thought that I was destined for the 6. I put in one huge effort to get to that 2, only came narrowly behind Andrew in the foot race and somehow we both got the 1 minute connection at Wet Spam, then Bromley-by-Bow to finish.

I will let Tangy post the results but I was genuinely surprised (negatively) how far off the pace I was, given I knew I had probably beaten James and Rhys and had (definitely) tied with Andrew.

[Lunaticonthegrass]

Wow, what a day!

Tangy's selected starting location of the Hanover Square entrace meant that we were closer to the Oxford Circus underground entrance than the Bond Street entrance. I felt that running to Oxford Circus at the start was very viable, and running down the road to the normal Bond Street entrance was better than going along the Liz line platforms. But the challenge was set up to favour a non-underground start, so, quickly skimming down the list, I started by heading from BOND STREET to Liverpool Street to then connect to MOORGATE. This was my first mistake - I should have gone to Westminster, just 2 stops away. But I'm only saying this because of how things panned out later in the day.

Yes, I dropped my station list on the floor at the start of the challenge and managed to get it back. I also lost the pen I was using at one point, then lost my spare pen later on, then found my first pen after the challenge had finished. I've still not emptied my rucksack so my spare pen might be there but I doubt it. But back on topic...

Tangy, both Rhys's and myself missed a London Fields train by about 20 seconds. I waited 15 minutes for the next one, as I'd have to travel that bit of line at some point anyway, and was joined by first-timers Adam and Michael whilst I waited. Both Rhys's got back on at Bethal Green (they had taken a Chingford service to get a bit further down the line) and the 5 of us had a 7 minute connection between the Hackneys. West through CALEDONIAN ROAD & BARNSBURY, then Rhys B left us at Camden Road. Rhys J and I ran from Hampstead Heath to BELSIZE PARK but by different routes. I was in the elevator and the doors were closing just as he entered the station, but then the doors re-opened and he joined me. Then the doors re-opened again before the closed for good and we headed down.

The pair of us and Rhys B all had the same basic plan but different ways of knocking out Euston Square, so it was around here that I left Rhys J and briefly met Rhys B again. Down to KXSP then out at EUSTON SQUARE to run to Warren Street. From here I was planning to head to Westminster via Green Park, but...

I arrived to find the Victoria line at standstill, so quickly needed a second plan. Northern to Embankment then sub-surface to WESTMINSTER. Rather than taking the Jubilee straight to Waterloo, I went back via Embankment to cut out the long runs in Westminster and Waterloo. Sadly, I just missed a double-back at Westminster, then had a 5 minute wait for a Bakerloo line train, so it turned out to be the wrong choice. Probably. I'll never know. And then I just missed another connection at ELEPHANT & CASTLE (LU). Down to Clapham North, where I arrive just as I know a train is leaving Clapham High Street. So a wonder over there, passing Andrew C and Rhys B coming the other way. Again, I contemplate other options but waiting it out seemed to make most sense. One stop from CLAPHAM HIGH STREET to Denmark Hill and this time a modest jog to Loughborough Junction.

The southbound train I want (to connect at Tulse Hill) is running 7 minutes late when I arrive at LOUGHBOROUGH JUNCTION, but it then becomes cancelled. As does the one after that. A 40 minute wait is really too much, so it's time to re-route again. At least there is a northbound service in 6 minutes. Up to E&C (the other one) where I make my first good connection of the day - 1 minute for a Sevenoaks service which takes me to Peckham Rye. If I missed that I had no idea what I'd do. I found Milo and Andy JS on this train, who hadn't yet done Loughborogh Junction and didn't know what to do. It was around this time that I got a message from Rhys J, simply starting "I'm f***ed".

So I had been screwed by the Vic and partialling screwed by Thameslink. But the last bit of the challenge went well. Down to NORTH DULWICH and only 4 minutes for a doubleback here. Through SOUTH BERMONDSEY to London Bridge then onto the Jubilee thorugh BERMONDSEY to West Ham, then a perfect final connection to finish at BROMLEY-BY-BOW.

Bond Street (Elizabeth Line) Liverpool Street (run) Moorgate Liverpool Street Hackneys Hampstead Heath (run) Belsize Park KXSP Euston Square (run) Warren Street (first change of plan) Embankment Westminster Embankment E&C Clapham North (run) Clapham High Street Denmark Hill (run) Loughborough Junction (second change of plan) E&C Peckham Rye North Dulwich London Bridge West Ham 3B

Rhys B - you can have one of my points. After today's performance I doubt I'll be even close to winning the current championship. I'm very much looking forward to a nice, normal round in March.

[Oggm]

Starting at Bond Street we headed w/b, only for me to jog to the end of the train, only to move straight back up for a TCR exit. n/b Northern to Belsize Park, after a depressing wait with Andrew (who left at Warren Street; yes I was nosey) for an Edgware train (by this point I think miklcct already caught up to us) then I made the mistake in running up the stairs, which was stupid and unlucky for my brain which set a precedent for what was about to come. Number 1 Bus connection to Hampstead Heath. Along to Highbury and Islington (via Caledonian Road & B), where after tangling with a passengers bag on the escalator; the Vic was dead. In hindsight I should have gone and continued to Hackney for London Fields, but no. I took the NCL to Old Str. then the Northern to KXX. After a sub surface double back at Euston Square. I was at Liverpool Street (having gone via Moorgate). Stepped onto a delayed Enfield Town service. And after realising that my route was inheritely flawed by this point, I took the 354 bus to Mile End from London Fields.

East to West Ham via BBB, Jubilee down to Westminster (via Bermondsey and Waterloo). A smooth double back again to Waterloo, and Bakerloo down to Elephant LU. And then stuck at Elephant NR with the Loughborough trains practically dead; which was a shame. Instead, I wasted a few more minuites heading down to Denmark Hill, and then to Clapham High Street, before taking a bus back to Loughborough. I had to wait 13 mins for the next s/b service to Tulse Hill (as I just missed the first non-canelled s/b train), after which I took a London Bridge service via North Dulwich, and finishing at South Bermondsey with a time of 04:15.48.

The Victoria line and route planning were my real issues, assuming the Victoria line worked, I would have automatically saved 15 mins, after which I would have likely saved much on further connections. I think going via Tulse Hill was a splendid idea, which gave me much joy.

[penguin]

I arrived at Bond St twenty seconds too late and managed to grab a photo of the station list off Peter, I think (so I didn't realise that there were so many people until we got to the pub and people were streaming in continuously for hours!) and just ran downstairs before even looking at the list. I was already tired and puffed from running from Oxford Circus (what was up with the Vic yesterday???) but I was lucky enough to get on a train straight away, and turns out that more or less everyone else was there too so I wasn't that far behind...

Got to TCR and planned to go up to Belsize Pk because that was what I had seen and I hadn't had time to draw them all out on the map yet so I ran to the Northern platforms. I know my way around TCR pretty well but somehow when I got to the Northern line plats, I accidentally got on a southbound train! Which actually turned out to be a bit of a blessing. Changing at Embankment for Westminster then Jubilee to Waterloo and B'loo to E&C. After all these one-after-another changes I'd barely enough time to work out where I was going next, but I did manage to see that I'd probably miss the 12:55 from E&C-LGJ (thank goodness for signal on the J'lee!) so I continued down to Clapham and ran to Clapham HS with more time than I would've liked to have spare... From Denmark Hill I strolled to Loughborough Junction as it became later and later... but at least it came!

From Herne Hill strolled at an equally leisurely pace down Half Moon Lane to North Dulwich and went through South Bermondsey to London Bridge, then J'lee to Bermondsey, at which point I was faster than my plans. I just kept going because I was on a train, and a train in the hand is worth two in the bush. Hard left at West Ham and through BBB to Mile End, where I made a split-second decision to carry on to Liv.St. (I theorised that doing Bethnal Green LO - Cambridge Heath for a MOG end would be more or less the same time as going the other way round the NLL for a LOF end). Luckily, after passing Moorgate to Euston Square I got incredible lucky and got an Edgware train from Bank (so no Mornington Crescent!) instantly at Euston, so after running over the hill at Belsize Park I ended up on the train before I thought I would at Hampstead Heath.

I passed Team Ian by the hospital, who were ambling along, which made me worried that they'd been ahead and now we were going to finish on the same train. I half-expected them to get off at Cally Rd & B because they had a different idea of which door it was... But we ended up both being wrong for the change at Hackney Central. Luckily, the 5-minute lead I'd picked up from Hampstead Heath meant I ended up 15 minutes sooner than expected (well, 12 because of delays... but that's to be expected) for a London Fields finish at 03h06'54". Turns out Team Ian still had BBB to tick off, and upon conference we had almost identical routes before that point, except where they had gone straight to MOG from Bermondsey instead of via BBB like me.

I was astounded at the turnout! And the wide range of finishing stations!

[Rhys1995]

My write up of yesterday's events...

Started off heading east to Liverpool Street, running up to Moorgate from the EL platforms, got a swift connection to Liverpool Street, something like 90 seconds if that. Got into Liv St, ambitiously aiming to get the 1245 from Liv St - Enfield Town. Sadly I, Rhys B, James and Tangy all missed the train. Got on the next service, alighted at Bethnal Green and waited for an all stations service to tick off London Fields. Onto Hackney Downs, ran to Hackney Central with Rhys B, James and two others in tow. All got on the same train heading west towards Hampstead Heath, Rhys B got off at Camden Road, I stayed on with everyone else to Hampstead Heath. I pretty much followed James running to Belsize Park, he thought he had lost me but, having taken a crafty shortcut I made up a few seconds and we met again in the lift.

Northern Line southbound to Euston, unbeknownst to me Rhys B was on the same train as me and James, I only heard Rhys as I got off. Ran to Euston Square, saw Rhys B again (almost like Tube Rhys by this point!) then we both went the same way to Baker Street. Down to the Jubilee Line, saw Rhys B get off at Waterloo and I stayed on as far as Canada Water. Waited 3 minutes for a Clapham Junction train, not bad going I thought. Crawled all the way to Clapham High Street and then did the Clapham shuffle to Clapham North, aiming to get to Elephant and Castle...

I arrived at E+C at about 1453, missed the 1455 Sutton service that Rhys B was on, I watched it leaving the platform as I was sprinting down the road to try and find the entrance to the NR station. Eventually found the entrance, the reality hits my next train isn't until 1510 and it is delayed by 8 minutes. At 1505 this service is now showing as 'cancelled' as Thameslink run the train fast, and then to make matters even worse, a couple of minutes later the 1525 is also cancelled. By this point, I'm fed up and I mean *really* fed up as there was no other feasible option to tick off Loughborough Junction, I had to go south. I was on the verge of retiring on 11 stations but decided to agree that if the third train, the 1540 was cancelled I'd retire and head to the pub. Thankfully the 1540 ran, albeit late and I totalled it up to a net loss of 45 minutes at one station. Took the 1540 to Tulse Hill, 5 minute wait on a cold platform for a London Bridge service, Jubilee Line to West Ham and then finishing at Bromley-by-Bow with a time of 4:16:12. This was also in the nick of time as my watch was almost dead and so concluded my worst performance and experience in an R15.

I'm sure I have set a new record for the most amount of time lost at a station on a Random 15!

[JamesWright]

I made a snap decision at the start to take the Jubilee line, having spotted three stations in a row plus a collection of South London NR stations. I ran to the entrance on Oxford Street - delayed momentarily when a passer-by flagged me down to point out my glove had fallen out of my coat pocket - and down to the Jubilee line platforms, where I saw several other competitors. The first train arrived quickly and allowed me to plan my route in comfort while stations were ticked off outside - Waterloo, Westminster and Bermondsey. I doubled back there to London Bridge for a comfortable connection to the 13:01 Southern service via South Bermondsey and North Dulwich, accompanied by Peter and unknowingly by Hugo's team.

A stroke of luck at Tulse Hill meant we were able to just catch the delayed 13:08 Northbound Thameslink service at 13:20 rather than the 13:23 I was expecting to catch. This turned an unrealistic (for me) 7-minute connection into a doable 10-minute one, running from Loughborough Junction to Denmark Hill for the 13:37 Windrush line to Clapham High Street.

Heading North on the Northern line through Elephant & Castle and Moorgate, I was considering whether to visit Euston Square next or Belsize Park. I estimated that both routes would lead me to just miss the 14:32 Mildmay line service from Camden Road, so I might as well take a gamble on the more uncertain latter option. Taking advantage of the fact I was already on an Edgware-branch train, I continued all the way through to Belsize Park, and doubled back (unfortunately on a Charing Cross-branch train) to Euston, ran to Euston Square, took the Metropolitan line one stop to Kings Cross St Pancras, and then attempted to run to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury. I'd underestimated the distance and overestimated my remaining stamina, so I jumped on a 91 bus to get there.

Boarding at CR&B I was very relieved to see Hugo's team, who had visited Euston Square first, had failed to get a train up on me. We were then all together for the rest of the challenge. Our train was 3 minutes late at Hackney Central but that didn't affect our connection to the 15:01 at Hackney Downs because that train was also running late. When it arrived the reason became clear - it was completely packed with football supporters. I just managed to squeeze on and travel through London Fields to Cambridge Heath. One last run to Bethnal Green, Central line to Mile End, and H&C to Bromley-by-Bow to finish in 2:52:55.

Thank you to Tangy for organising what must have been an especially difficult round this time, given the number of participants.

[miklcct]

Starting at Bond Street we headed w/b, only for me to jog to the end of the train, only to move straight back up for a TCR exit. n/b Northern to Belsize Park, after a depressing wait with Andrew (who left at Warren Street; yes I was nosey) for an Edgware train (by this point I think miklcct already caught up to us) then I made the mistake in running up the stairs, which was stupid and unlucky for my brain which set a precedent for what was about to come. Number 1 Bus connection to Hampstead Heath. Along to Highbury and Islington (via Caledonian Road & B), where after tangling with a passengers bag on the escalator; the Vic was dead. In hindsight I should have gone and continued to Hackney for London Fields, but no. I took the NCL to Old Str. then the Northern to KXX. After a sub surface double back at Euston Square. I was at Liverpool Street (having gone via Moorgate). Stepped onto a delayed Enfield Town service. And after realising that my route was inheritely flawed by this point, I took the 354 bus to Mile End from London Fields.

I think I saw Andrew again at Camden Town switching trains from the High Barnet branch to the Edgware branch after I did the Belsize Park double-back, while I was running out of the station for Camden Road, and that was the last moment I saw another challenger during the whole challenge.

Do you know the time you boarded the Mildmay line at Hampstead Heath? I want to compare the timing of double-backing back to Camden Town for Camden Road (which is an official interchange) v.s. running out at Belsize Park for Hampstead Heath for future reference. I am reading through old posts and I see there are many people running between Belsize Park and Hampstead Heath but I tend to avoid this run (due to the lift at Belsize Park and the fact that the station is on a hill) in favour of a Camden Town / Camden Road run.

P.S. I have noticed that Belsize Park has appeared in all 3 rounds this year.

[Oggm]

I think I saw Andrew again at Camden Town switching trains from the High Barnet branch to the Edgware branch after I did the Belsize Park double-back, while I was running out of the station for Camden Road, and that was the last moment I saw another challenger during the whole challenge.

Do you know the time you boarded the Mildmay line at Hampstead Heath? I want to compare the timing of double-backing back to Camden Town for Camden Road (which is an official interchange) v.s. running out at Belsize Park for Hampstead Heath for future reference. I am reading through old posts and I see there are many people running between Belsize Park and Hampstead Heath but I tend to avoid this run (due to the lift at Belsize Park and the fact that the station is on a hill) in favour of a Camden Town / Camden Road run.

P.S. I have noticed that Belsize Park has appeared in all 3 rounds this year.

I did not take many timings I am afraid, however, I do remeber an 8 min wait at Hampstead Heath, and I know that I arrived at H&I at around 1318z. And I also have a timestamp of a photo I took at Caledonian Road & B at 1317z (though my phone clock may be innacurate).

So that probably puts me on the 1231z service from Richmond to Stratford, which has me leaving Hampstead Heath at 1304z, though it was more likely 1305z as I recal the service being delayed by a tad.

[Capelblue]

We all gathered at a chilly Hanover square ready for the National rail twist round, it was Ian and I today, and there was a huge turnout for the challenge. We decided that we would take a couple of minutes to map the stations and make something of a plan due to the number of options available from Bond Street (including the possibility of Oxford Circus). On seeing that Westminster and Waterloo were on the list we made the decision to run to the main entrance (passing Rebecca Adlington on the way) and take the Jubilee line southbound. We did consider going through to Bermondsey and doubling back, but in the end we got out at Waterloo and onto the Northern line. Ian realised just in time at Kennington that we were on a BPS train and we quickly went through the cross passage and onto a Morden train to go to Clapham North. Here we went on foot to Clapham High Street where there was a 9 minute wait for a train. We were on the train with Vincent, but he left us at Denmark Hill and we went on to Peckham Rye. We worked out that our best move here was to take a northbound train up to South Bermondsey (even though it was a 10 minute wait), and then do a double back (5 minute wait) to Tulse Hill picking up North Dulwich on the way. At Tulse Hill we met James and Sam who joined us on the northbound Thameslink, but left us at Loughborough Junction as we carried on to Elephant & Castle where we headed to the tube and got the Northern line up to London Bridge for a quick double back onto the Jubilee line to pick up Bermondsey (we had debated carrying on to West Ham to get 3B, but decided against due to two long journeys required). From London Bridge we got the Northern line to Moorgate where we changed to the sub surface and went along to Euston Square. A quick hop to Warren Street followed and a nice Edgware train coming in to take us to Belsize Park (again ! - 3 out of 3 this season), up the lifts, and out to Hampstead Heath where we again met Vincent. This took us through Caledonian Road and Barnsbury, and along to Hackney Central where we all went along the walkway to Hackney Downs. Here the train was delayed for a couple of minutes before we headed through London Fields where Vincent completed, we got off at Cambridge Heath, down the road to Bethnal Green, slick change at Mile End, and finishing at Bromley by Bow in a time of 3:22:17.

We were handicapped a little by Ian being unable to run due to injury, and had some sluggish changes in South London, but overall it was a pretty good day. With hindsight, a Camden Town to Camden Road change may have been preferable to the BP to HH one.

Clearly it was a good decision to do South London first as those who left that part until later seemed to suffer the luck of someone who had run over a herd of black cats.

Well done to Tangy for organising, and all the challengers who kept going even if they were having nightmares !

[ANDY_JS]

What does BERC stand for? I can't work it out but it's probably obvious. (Sorry to go off topic again).

[Oggm]

What does BERC stand for? I can't work it out but it's probably obvious. (Sorry to go off topic again).

Bernie Ecclestone of the Random 15 Championship