Tube Olympics 2024: Event 1- All Lines

[tangy]

Less than a week to go until the games commence!

I am your host (the TOSA) and we will be straight out the blocks with an All Lines for the opening event.

All Lines: Tuesday 9th July 2024 18:00 UK local time.

The rules for this challenge:

1. You can start the challenge at any station that suits you- there will be no formal meet up beforehand.
2. You may start the challenge at or after 18:00:00 (attempts started before this time will not be considered). Stopwatch must be started when the train doors are locked closed ready for departure.
3. As the All Lines is a relatively short challenge in duration, you can have as many attempts as you like between 18:00:00 and 20:29:59. You can abort any attempt and start again if you wish.
4. Your final attempt must have commenced before 20:30:00 (attempts started after this time will not be considered). Again, the time is counted when the train doors are locked closed ready for departure.
5. You must travel between at least two stations on ALL 11 London Underground lines- this does include the Waterloo & City line.
6. Where two or more lines share the same piece of track, you must travel on ALL the different lines for an attempt to be valid. For example, a journey between King’s Cross and Farringdon only counts for the line your train is described as (say a Circle), it does not mean you have done the Circle, Met and H&C together. Please make sure you look at the train destination screens or listen to announcements for the correct line- especially with the S stock now on all the subsurface lines.
7. If you have done multiple attempts within the time limit, only submit your best time for judging. Any others can be kept and logged on Explorer Ticket.
8. Once you have completed your final attempt please head to the usual post challenge meet up location- the Blue Posts pub, Newman Street (near TCR/OXC), where I will validate your attempt/s and award medals to the podium positions.
9. In case of disputes, the decision of the TOSA is final.

Who wants to put their name forward for this event?

Tangy
Tube Olympics Supreme Administrator.

[tractakid]

I should be there.

[miklcct]

Less than a week to go until the games commence!

I am your host (the TOSA) and we will be straight out the blocks with an All Lines for the opening event.

All Lines: Tuesday 9th July 2024 18:00 UK local time.

The rules for this challenge:

1. You can start the challenge at any station that suits you- there will be no formal meet up beforehand.
2. You may start the challenge at or after 18:00:00 (attempts started before this time will not be considered). Stopwatch must be started when the train doors are locked closed ready for departure.
3. As the All Lines is a relatively short challenge in duration, you can have as many attempts as you like between 18:00:00 and 20:29:59. You can abort any attempt and start again if you wish.
4. Your final attempt must have commenced before 20:30:00 (attempts started after this time will not be considered). Again, the time is counted when the train doors are locked closed ready for departure.
5. You must travel between at least two stations on ALL 11 London Underground lines- this does include the Waterloo & City line.
6. Where two or more lines share the same piece of track, you must travel on ALL the different lines for an attempt to be valid. For example, a journey between King’s Cross and Farringdon only counts for the line your train is described as (say a Circle), it does not mean you have done the Circle, Met and H&C together. Please make sure you look at the train destination screens or listen to announcements for the correct line- especially with the S stock now on all the subsurface lines.
7. If you have done multiple attempts within the time limit, only submit your best time for judging. Any others can be kept and logged on Explorer Ticket.
8. Once you have completed your final attempt please head to the usual post challenge meet up location- the Blue Posts pub, Newman Street (near TCR/OXC), where I will validate your attempt/s and award medals to the podium positions.
9. In case of disputes, the decision of the TOSA is final.

Who wants to put their name forward for this event?

Tangy
Tube Olympics Supreme Administrator.

Edit:

I think I'll skip this one - I live in Willesden Green and it is a long way from Wembley back to my intended start point for this challenge after I do my orienteering.

It will be too tiring for me to do that and I don't want to get home so late in the evening.

[tangy]

The inaugural event of Tube Olympics 2024 was an All lines Challenge.

Four challengers competed in this event and their finishing positions were:

4th: Ian McIntyre 00:54:25
Bronze: Richard Standing 00:51:03
Silver: Tangy 00:48:44 (also recorded another attempt of 00:51:00).
Gold: Andrew Chilcraft 00:46:36

Medals will be held for presentation at the next event or at the closing ceremony.

Preparations are underway for event 2 on Friday (12th July 2024) for the Bottle challenge - see separate post for full details.

Tangy
The TOSA

[al]

Well done all.

Out of interest @tangy, was your faster attempt the first or second? I'm intrigued that you had enough energy to contemplate a second go at this particular challenge!

[Capelblue]

This is a fun but intense challenge as you are constantly changing, it was very sweaty on the tube as well.

I decided to make a start at Bank as I thought it best to get the Waterloo & City line out of the way first, so I headed down to Waterloo and shot down the tunnels to catch a Bakerloo line train up to Embankment where I negotiated the maze of tunnels to pick up a westbound District line train to Westminster. Here I raced down the escalators to get a Jubilee line to Green Park for the lengthy change to the Piccadilly line and a brief rest for the two stop ride to Leicester Square. Onto the Northern line to Tottenham Court Road for another long change to the Central line to Oxford Circus where I changed onto the Victoria line to Warren Street, where I got out into the fresh air for the quick run (well as quick as I can these days) to Euston Square. This left me the three subsurface lines to do and my strategy was to try the westbound platform to avoid the long stretch between Kings Cross and Farringdon but with the possibility of keeping an eye on the eastbound boards. There was a Hammersmith & City line train heading west in a minute so I got on that, leaving it at Great Portland Street where there was Metropolitan line train in 2 minutes, however I wanted to go east to avoid a change at Baker Street, alas there was no Metropolitan or Circle line train for 5 minutes, so I got on the Metropolitan line train to Baker Street where I was lined up wrong for the exit so had a longer change to the Circle line platforms, but no harm done, there was a Circle line train in 2 minutes which I caught and completed at Great Portland Street in a time of 54:25

[tangy]

Well done all.

Out of interest @tangy, was your faster attempt the first or second? I'm intrigued that you had enough energy to contemplate a second go at this particular challenge!

I actually did three attempts within the time window, all using the same route. My first attempt was my quickest despite making a schoolboy error at Embankment and just jumped on a Circle line train that was there in the platform, without looking at the destination! So had to do an extra station double back in order to ride a District line train.

My second attempt I aborted at Embankment when there was a 9 minute wait for a District and I thought stuff that.

The third attempt was finally started just 8 minutes inside the window due to the subsurface lines not playing ball thus I waited ages for the "perfect three" before commencing but I was going well until a 6 minute wait for the Jubilee slowed me down but I carried on and completed.

[RJSRdg]

I did attempt to post a write-up earlier in the week but for some reason it didn't appear.

I had three attempts at the challenge, of which only the first was completed.

On arrival at Farringdon at about 17:50, I met Andrew C who boarded an eastbound train at about 17:55. As this was before the scheduled start time, I figured he must be starting elsewhere and spent much of my first run trying to work out what he was doing!

First Attempt:

The correct sequence of trains came just after 18:00, so I did Farringdon > Barbican > Moorgate > Liverpool Street > Bank > Waterloo >Embankment (Northern) > Westminster (District) > Green Park > Oxford Circus. Here I blundered and momentarily forgot I'd already done the Central Line, so went to the Central Line platforms and wasted a couple of minutes there before realising my error and heading to the Bakerloo platforms for the train to Piccadilly Circus then on to Leicester Square. Completion time 51:03, just a couple of minutes outside my PB, which I would have broken had it not been for the error at Oxford Circus.

Then up the Northern to TCR and across on the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon for

Second Attempt:

Tangy was on the platform waiting for the correct sequence of trains as I arrived at Farringdon. He told me that Andrew C had started his first attempt at Moorgate. Looking at a nearby map suggested a route that I thought he may have tried, and with some time passing without the correct sequence of trains for a Farringdon start appearing, I opted to go to Moorgate and attempt the other route.

Moorgate > Liverpool Street > Aldgate East > Tower Gateway > Monument/Bank > Waterloo (where Tangy and I ended up on the same Northern Line train - at this point I thought I was on course for setting a goods time) > Embankment > Piccadilly Circus > Green Park > Oxford Circus (3 minute wait) > Bond Street. At Bond Street I discovered there was a 4 minute wait for a Jubilee line train, and as 51 minutes had already elapsed, I opted to abort this attempt and try to get one more in by getting the Elizabeth line to Farringdon (again). This was the third time in the evening that I had come out of the Crossrail barriers at Farringdon, without having gone in once - is this a record?

Third attempt:
Entering the Met station, a glance at the board showed the next three trains to be in the correct sequence, however by the time I reached the platform, the first train had gone. The next three, though, were in sequence so I hopped on board. Unfortunately I blundered and forgot to change trains at Barbican. By the time the train pulled into Moorgate (where Tangy got on), it was 20:30 and no further attempts were possible, so I got back on the EL and headed to TCR.