Me and Andi were talking about the Zone 1 challenge and future attempts at the GWR. We were joined by a few others and pretty soon, were all asking eachother why wasn't the pub open?
After finding out that the pub opened at 12, Andi and I decided to walk to Oxford Circus station. On the way, we talked about team names. After meeting up at Oxford Circus, we waited for the starting station to be announced and after it turned out to be Angel, we all made our way to the Northern Line station
We started just after 1pm. At Moorgate, we watched as loads of people alighted the train and ran off down some corridor. Me and Andi stayed on until Bank where we ran to the Central Line platforms. After a 1 min wait there, we were on our way. Andi briefed me on the Chancery Lane - Farringdon run. Was longer than he made out to be and despite his claims, was not down hill ALL the way. But at least we made it with time to spare. We got an Eastbound H&C train and we found out that there was a Circle Line train 3 minutes behind us. Knowing this, we only had 3 minutes to change at Aldgate/Aldgate East. We ran to Aldgate and waited like 30 seconds for our train.
We jumped on the Circle line train and went to Sloane Square. There was another train already on the Eastbound platform but departed by the time Andi reached the down escalator. A 2 minute wait followed and we went to Victoria. At Victoria, I had the better door and I ran out of the train and down the steps and escalator to the Victoria Line. The second time for me that day. We went down to Vauxhall and got the mainline train into Waterloo.
This didnt turn out good for us as the train was routed into platform 14. We had to run through the mainline station to the Jubliee Line entrance of the Underground. We made the train that was standing there on the eastbound platform. We went to London Bridge where a quick change took us to the Northern Line and down to Elephant and Castle.
Our luck continued as there was a Bakerloo train waiting to depart and departed just after we boarded it. At Waterloo, we changed onto the Northern Line and went up to Euston. Tangy who had joined us some time before was going to try and double back but me and Andi ran to Euston Square. After losing eachother for a minute or two, we found eachother and arrived at Euston Square to the sight of Hakan and Co running out of the station. Tangy also caught up with us while we were waiting for the train and followed us.
We took the H&C line to Paddington and ran to the Bakerloo Line platforms. Andi held the train for me as I was running down the escalator. We went south to Oxford Circus and were pleased when we saw a Central Line train just pulling into the station. We got on it and went to Queensway. At Queensway, after stating that I would not run up the stairs, we ran to Bayswater which turned out to be my favourite run of the day. Also it was the easiest for me. Dont know why lol.
At Bayswater, we got a District Line train to Earls Court where we were planning to use Starkey's Stairs to take us to the Piccadilly Line. I was at the back of the group and when we realised that the stairs were closed, I did a quick u-turn and then we ran to the Piccadilly Line. This was fun as I was in front of everyone else at that point and made it to the Piccadilly Line first. An unusual thing for me
After a 2 minute wait, we got the Piccadilly Line north to our finishing station, Kings Cross. On the way, I calculated that we would have a sub 3-hour time. Tangy revealed to us that his finishing station was Kings Cross. He also revealed to us that his total time was near ours. We realised that to beat Tangy, we had to go from Russell Square to Kings Cros in under 2 minutes 25 seconds. Tangy joked that he would hold the doors open but me and Andi said we'd pin him down on the other side of the train...
Russell Square arrived and Tangy stopped his watch. Now all me and Andi had to do was to get to Kings Cross in under 2:25. We did and we all piled out of the train, celebrating. Andi sliding on his back with his arms and legs in the air and I was cheering like Cardiff had won the FA Cup (1927...good memories).
With the challenge over, all that was left was for us to go to the pub. We went to Great Portland Street and me and Andi arrived at the pub (we lost Tangy somewhere on the surface lol). As we entered the pub, we were greeted by the sight of Sam, Matt, Neil and an empty room. "
This must be good" I thought to myself. After waiting for everyone else to arrive and clearing the bar out of crisps, we had the results.
It turned out that we were first and despite numerous shouts of "FIXED!", we collected our certificates and trophy. We then had the quiz which I was awful at. That was followed by the rounds of darts which turned out to be fun. I left the pub at around 22:20 and got my second proper meal of the day. A Big Mac meal
. I went down to the Victoria Line at Oxford Circus and sat on the platform and ate my food. After watching three trains pass and observing all sorts of life passing me, I went on the train and went to Victoria. At Victoria, I walked to the Coach station and waited for my coach to take me back home. I got on the coach and went straight to the back seat. After we left Victoria, I stretched out on the empty back seat and went to sleep following my busy day in London.
The next day I showed my trophy to my collegues in Co-Op and also my family. They all asked me when my next challenge is. I replied with a "Dont know".
Overall, I had a good day. Was fun and I enjoyed meeting new people. Even the almighty and powerful overseer of this forum
Some of my favourite bits of the day were trying to distract Andi from the many women around us and the unusual good luck with our changes. The bit I hated the most was when I pulled a muscle during the first run which had a slight effect on the rest of the runs. But despite my speed, we did not finish 10th (Matt
). I'm looking forward to Zone One next year and hoping to retain my trophy
. Well done to everyone who took part and hope to see you all soon. All thats left for me to do now is to plan next year's event...