Tube Challenge Injuries

Going Underground · Post by **Going Underground** » 05 Jan 2007, 13:45

I was wondering if anyone had sustained any injuries during the course of a Tube Challenge or had any near misses

I have had a few scrapes with slippery station floors, where I have momentarily lost my footing.
Also the painted yellow line near the platform edge can be treacherous in wet conditions.. On our GWR / CiN attempt in November I dashed through the barrier and down the stairs at Ickenham as the train had just arrived in the station... Just as the doors were about to close I slipped on the yellow line fell into the carriage and as I put my hands out to break my fall my main worry was a rather crumpled looking ticket that I needed for the rest of the day

There were no surpised passengers to witness this as the carriage was empty....

On another challenge I was changing at Kings Cross and was running through a very crowded ticket hall trying to keep Dr Who in sight.. I didn't notice that a woman was pulling a suitcase on wheels behind her...
As I run round the back of her I tripped went flying forwards and put my arms around a rather startled gentleman who if hadn't been there I would have gone crashing to the floor. In a split second I said "sorry" and resumed the chase.....

There have probably been one or two others that I can't recall and possibly my travelling companions at the time may remember..

jonny · Post by **jonny** » 05 Jan 2007, 14:19

On my first ever tube challenge attempt (besides TubeRelief) I arrived at Chalfont & Latimer off the first train of the day, and that indicator told me that the next Chesham train was from platform 3. Without really thinking, I believed it, until I saw the 8-car train that I was expecting arriving in platform 1. I ran down under the underpass thing but it was very slippery, being the 3rd January! I slipped when turning to climb the staircase at the other end, and dropped my folder, pen, and everything else that I was carrying. I hurriedly picked them up, ran up the stairs and dived onto the train as the doors were closing, and then sat down to nurse my knee which now had a nice big bruise on it. Not the way to start a tubechallenge attempt...

zeibura · Post by **zeibura** » 05 Jan 2007, 14:37

i think i remember reading that geoff had to give up on one of his attempts because of a foot injury...

i've never had any serious slip-up on a full attempt, but one time me and steven had a very memorable near miss on our alphabet challenge in 2004 where we almost ran into someone at the top of an escalator, which would undoubtedly have sent us and a lot more people flying for a bit....

Going Underground · Post by **Going Underground** » 05 Jan 2007, 14:45

I have just recalled another one...... During his first Z1 I was running from Aldgate to Aldgate East with K9......
K9 stayed on the path and missed the road side of the fence.... when I saw him at the end of the fence rather than run through the subway I told him to vault over it....... He did this and strained a muscle in his side....
Off course I made him carry on to finish the Z1

The best injury of all was Dr Who on a GWR research day at Whitechapel, but I will leave the Dr to tell you about that one

Garion · Post by **Garion** » 05 Jan 2007, 16:07

Tube 6. Geoff did finish early but because of a knee problem, not a foot problem.

Here's a quote from the page:

I was doing another run between two stations just after 6.30pm, and my knee suddenly gave in on me. I stopped, in agony, and for a moment couldn't even walk without it hurting. I rested for a minute - found that I could walk, tried running again - and it was bloody painful. So it was then that I decided that it might just be wiser to retire.

And so Geoff gave up at 7pm and decided to go home.

Talking about Tube Challenge Injuries, I do remember a funny incident at Hammersmith involving Geoff (He's probably saying: oh no not this again!)
If Hammersmith (Met) station was a person, then he would have been in the hospital for a week or two becuse of GBH. Here's what happened.
Geoff came into Hammersmith and needed to change onto the other train to make a connection further up the line. As the other train was about to leave, he had to be quick. So when the doors opened, he started running but got slowed down when a member of staff asked him what he was doing. Then the doors started to close on the train and after a barrage of swear words, here's what happened:

I scream in frustration, and with no train doors to now bang on I vent out my frustration on the nearest inanimate object to be which just happens to be one of those big yellow 'SALT' containers that they used to hold grit for when the platforms are icy.
At this point I think I wasn't really aware of what I was doing as I was later told that I was banging my fist on the concrete platform as well, but I don't actually remember doing this at the time.

I think this qualifies for a tube challenge injury!

Going Underground · Post by **Going Underground** » 05 Jan 2007, 16:13

garion24wales wrote:Tube 6. Geoff did finish early but because of a knee problem, not a foot problem.

Here's a quote from the page:
I was doing another run between two stations just after 6.30pm, and my knee suddenly gave in on me. I stopped, in agony, and for a moment couldn't even walk without it hurting. I rested for a minute - found that I could walk, tried running again - and it was bloody painful. So it was then that I decided that it might just be wiser to retire.

And so Geoff gave up at 7pm and decided to go home.

Talking of knees going I will let Soup Dragon tell you about his dodgy Dragon's knees on our GWR / CiN in November of last year... Its sounds very similiar to Geoff's

Soup Dragon · Post by **Soup Dragon** » 05 Jan 2007, 18:06

Going Underground wrote: Talking of knees going I will let Soup Dragon tell you about his dodgy Dragon's knees on our GWR / CiN in November of last year... Its sounds very similiar to Geoff's

It is indeed true that I had severe problems with my knees after about 14 hours of our CiN attempt in November. My excuse is that I was trying to keep up with Starkey all day long who is much fitter and younger than me. I had to keep him in sight so that the slower members of our team didn't get too far behind! My running towards the end somewhat resembled a young "Forrest Gump" when he has the leg supports in place, basically I couldn't bend my knees so had to run with straight legs.

On Tube "2" the knees performed much better, however, this was mainly due to a large can of Deep Heat which I sprayed on the knees during the afternoon. This combined with the smell of Lynx Africa (for sweaty armpits) was a recipe for success as I tried to gather signatures on the witness statement form. Two attractive young ladies on the ELL did not seem too impressed but the Lynx effect must have worked as I still managed to get them to sign the witness statement

Garion · Post by **Garion** » 05 Jan 2007, 19:08

Cool. It does sound similar!

Well my advice (if you want it

) is to be prepared and practise!
Also if you're going to do a run, warm up say two stations before you get off the train. Wise words dont you think?

ping pon · Post by **ping pon** » 05 Jan 2007, 19:09

When I was doing a challange I had a really bad knee and I could hardly run, I dont know how I did it.

Starkey7 · Post by **Starkey7** » 05 Jan 2007, 23:42

Well Ping Pon you did pretty well, especially with the last few changes. And the McDonald's afterwards made it so worth it, didn't it?
Hmm.

Garion, my team always warm up a couple of stations before a run, although there's a limit to how much you can do in a train carriage really!

And I must say Soup Dragon that you were really "giving it the beans" on that Cockfosters run and it took me absolutely ages to catch up with you!

Sam · Post by **Sam** » 05 Jan 2007, 23:58

When we broke the record in May, I managed to not see a "COCKFOSTERS" roundel (small aren't they!) and gashed my arm which was bleeding quite bad, I couldn't get tissue as the toilet is 20 pence and the tube worker had just let a slow moving old lady in there.... I did eventually get tissue somewhere to stop the bleeding, however I still have the scar on my arm to remind me of that moment

Garion · Post by **Garion** » 06 Jan 2007, 00:33

Starkey7 wrote:Garion, my team always warm up a couple of stations before a run, although there's a limit to how much you can do in a train carriage really!

Fair enough. I've been in the carriages and know how small they are!

Soup Dragon · Post by **Soup Dragon** » 06 Jan 2007, 10:58

ping pon wrote:When I was doing a challange I had a really bad knee and I could hardly run, I dont know how I did it.

Slipping over in the ticket hall at North Harrow probably didn't help much!

Steeevooo · Post by **Steeevooo** » 06 Jan 2007, 12:05

During the record run last May, myself and Sam were heading up the approach to Kensington Olympia. I had gone further ahead as the train was in the platform as we reached the approach, and as I got near the train I heard the doors beeping. Hence I threw myself in the direction of the door gap, just about managed to get my chest in the way of the door to prevent it closing, but in the process managed to end up with my leg falling down the gap between the train and the platform. After holding the train up for a short while until Sam got on the train, I inspected my leg to see some lovely open cuts and gashes, however, unlike Sam, I do not still have the scars today!

Going Underground · Post by **Going Underground** » 06 Jan 2007, 12:44

Just goes to show what you have to go through to get a GWR

Steve and Sam both gave blood, but I am sure the "scars of war" were worth it

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Tube Challenge Injuries

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