Random 15 Championship 2024/25: Round 4

[JamesWright]

Goodge Street => (Northern) => Warren Street(1) => (Northern) => Kentish Town => (Northern) => Bank => (Central) => Tottenham Court Road => (Northern) => Embankment => (Bakerloo) => Baker Street => (H&C) => Paddington(2) => (Bakerloo) => Baker Street => (Jubilee) => Bond Street => (Central) => White City(3) => (Central) => East Acton => (Run) => Stamford Brook(4) => (District) => Earl's Court => (District) => Wimbledon(5) => (Run) => South Wimbledon(6) => (Northern) => London Bridge(7) => (Jubilee) => Canning Town

(1) I decided to avoid changing at Camden Town and instead get the High Barnet-branch train that was 1 minute behind.
(2) My big mistake. At Paddington wanting the Westbound Central line, I got to the District line platform to see a 9-minute wait, so I made a rash decision to use the Bakerloo to get out of there. Some better options included, ranked from worst to best:
- Elizabeth line to Bond Street;
- waiting 9 minutes for the next District/Circle line train to Notting Hill Gate;
- running to Lancaster Gate.
I was with the winner up until Paddington, but this mistake put me around 10 minutes behind.
(3) The West Ruislip train I was on got overtaken by an Ealing Broadway train at White City. Fortunately I noticed in time and was able to switch cross-platform.
(4) Yes, a very long run, which took me 20 minutes platform-to-platform. I was straight onto a waiting train at Stamford Brook, so that made the exertion feel worth it.
(5) I got to East Putney at 15:11 and the next train from Putney to Clapham Junction was at 15:29, so that wasn't an option. I lost another ~7 minutes to the winner because of going via South Wimbledon. Wimbledon => Clapham Junction => Clapham High Street would have been 2 minutes faster. I was also considering a 37 bus from East Putney but that would have been about 2 minutes slower.
(6) Another long run straight onto a waiting train, this time 12 minutes platform-to-platform.
(7) I wasn't next to the door at London Bridge, the Northern line platform was very busy, and I had a 2-minute wait at the Jubilee line platform. This added up to a 7-minute connection here. Presumably this is where the winner made up most of the outstanding 5-minute difference between us.

[Capelblue]

A bright sunny day for the challenge as we met at Goodge Street for the live draw, we shared duties, I mapped the stations and Ian wrote them down, seeing Kentish Town on the list we decided to head north with a good deal of the challengers, a few hopped on to the Edgware train that came in first, but as a High Barnet was only a couple of minutes behind we decided to wait and sketch out our route. At Kentish Town we doubled back with a bunch of other challengers onto a Bank branch train within a minute, and we headed down through Old Street to Bank where we all seemed to change onto the westbound Central line, although all with different door positions for our various plans. That was the last we saw of anyone for quite a while ! We passed through St Paul's and Chancery Lane, making a late decision to change at Oxford Circus for the Bakerloo line (rather than Holborn for the Piccadilly and thus avoiding a further change at Piccadilly Circus). We made another good connection onto the Bakerloo line - possibly the dirtiest train we have ever seen ! This took us through Piccadilly Circus and onto Embankment where we changed to the Northern line - however only Kennington trains were showing, so we had to change there for a Morden train to run down to Clapham North where we executed probably the easiest double back on the network and headed up to London Bridge for a swift change onto the Jubilee line and headed through Canada Water and Canning Town meaning that we had recorded 10 stations in only just over an hour and a half. From here though our luck changed. Our train got held outside Stratford waiting for a platform meaning that we missed an Elizabeth line train and had a 7 minute wait, we took this to Paddington where we missed a Hammersmith and City line train by seconds meaning another 7 minute wait. We got off at Wood Lane and made a good connection to White City where we caught a Central line train to East Acton and another good double back saw us go through Holland Park (station 13) in 2 hours and 40 minutes. However at Notting Hill Gate things went south, we got to the subsurface platform seconds late for a Wimbledon train, and with the next one in 12 minutes we opted to take the Circle line train coming through in 3 minutes. Changing at Gloucester Road we had a 5 minute wait for a Richmond train which took us to Stamford Brook where we briefly saw Kevin, A2 and Das who were somewhat surprised to see us double back while they exited the station. Again we had just missed a double back so had to wait 5 minutes, a final 4 minute change at Earl's court saw us complete at Putney Bridge in a time of 3:32:43, our final five stations took us 1 hour and 59 minutes - the delay at Stratford just seemed to cause compounding delays.

Thanks to Tangy for organising, well done to all especially the winner with his epic run !

[Lunaticonthegrass]

The challenge started with us all running through the barriers at GOODGE STREET to find no elevators anywhere near ticket hall level, so myself and a few others ran down the emergency stairs. The sign in the ticket hall states 166 steps but the sign at deep level states 146 steps. I know it's a running joke that no stations state the correct number of steps but I would have thought that it would at least be possible to get the numbering consistent within a station. Anyways...

My original idea, like most others, was to head to Kentish Town first, but there was a 3 minute wait for anything heading north and 5 minutes for a High Barnet train. And there was a southbound train sitting in the adjacent platform. So I jumped on that with Tangy and Vincent and drew up a new plan.

Vincent left us at TCR. Tangy and I changed to the Piccadilly at Leicester Square, then to the Bakerloo at PICCADILLY CIRCUS and back to the Northern at Waterloo, having passed through EMBANKMENT. Another change at Kennington and we were at CLAPHAM NORTH. Doubling back, we got into different carriages and I didn't see anyone else for a long time. I headed to London Bridge then east through CANADA WATER and CANNING TOWN.

There were several options to get me back into town. My prefered option was Elizabeth Line from Stratford to Farringdon then run to Chancery Lane. So I went to Stratford and let the first westbound Central line train I saw go whilst I found out what the Liz line was doing. 5 minute wait, which was still 5 minutes away a minute later when the next westbound Central line train pulled in. So I changed plans and jumped on that.

I noticed that I came into ST PAUL'S westbound at 13:48, which is when the Liz line train I could have got was due into Farringdon. No way could I have run from the deep level platforms into Chancery Lane in the 3 minutes it was about to take me to travel one stop on a train, so I had made the right decision. Doubleback at CHANCERY LANE to Bank then a nice run down a scarily empty travelator to the Northern line.

Up to this point all my connections had been 1 minute, so it was going really well. I had another 1 minute connection here, but for an Edgware train. Onto that, through OLD STREET and held outside Camden Town, presumably for at Charing X branch train to get onto the High Barnet branch, which was annoying. Of course, I then ended up getting the train I could have got at Bank.

Another 1 minute connection at KENTISH TOWN, and for once it didn't matter which branch I was heading back down as I would be running Euston Euston Square. Except I ended up on a Charing X branch train, so decided to run Warren Street Great Portland Street instead, as there was less chance of me getting caught in crowds. 3 minute wait a GPS for a Circle train through PADDINGTON (BISHOPS ROAD) to Wood Lane. Getting off the train I saw Glen, who had been in the next carriage along, and we both ran to White City before heading to EAST ACTON and then back through HOLLAND PARK to Notting Hill Gate.

We both had the same two stations to go at this point, although, of course, we didn't know that at the time. The first southbound train was a circle, and we both wanted a Wimbleware. We both we to High Street Kensington on the Circle train, then I decided to drop back a train here, rather than add journey time and risk a bad connection at Gloucester Road. Shortly after the Circle line train had left, I noticed that the Olympia Shuttle had arrived on patform 3, so I went over there in case it departed first (just to get a bit further down the line in case anything went wrong, and for the kudos of using the shuttle). But the Wimbleware turned up as the Shuttle was still there, and so I had to fight through the crowns of the northbond train which had not long departed to catch the train I could have caught at NHG after all that.

Anyways, down to PUTNEY BRIDGE for a doubleback then a change at Earl's Court for my final train to STAMFORD BROOK.

Certainly on of my smoothest days challenging. So many one minute connections and nothing more than 3 minutes. Excellent challenging weather as well.

[The Raven]

I'd originally teamed up with Myles who unfortunately had an emergency after 6 stations.

My route
Goodge Street Kentish Town Bank Chancery Lane Stratford London Bridge Clapham North Elephant & Castle Baker Street Wood Lane White City East Acton Notting Hill Gate Gloucester Road Stamford Brook Earl's Court Putney Bridge

Notes:
- There were lots of people with their dogs on the tube
- I got stuck behind a huge school group at Bakers Street going up the escalators to the subsurface platforms
- Met up with James at White City. We were on the same route until Notting Hill Gate. Both with two stations left (Stamford Brook and Putney Bridge), and the first train out of NHG being a Circe line, I chose to go round to Gloucester Road and just jump on the first westbound district line train from Gloucester Road (an Ealing Broadway train), rather than wait for the Wimbleware train behind. That ended up being the slower of the two options!

Although, in the pub afterwards a realised a better route after Paddington would of been:

Paddington Lancaster Gate East Acton White City Hammersmith Stamford Brook Earl's Court Putney Bridge

[tractakid]

Another fascinating set of stations to plan a route for. I continue to really enjoy R15s after so many years. The combination of the puzzle of route planning, the elements of luck, the physical challenge of making connections as quickly as possible, and the amount of knowledge I have acquired that I can draw upon keep me absolutely captivated.

Route:

Goodge Street Camden Town Kentish Town Bank Tottenham Court Road Embankment Baker Street Paddington H&C (run to) Paddington D/B Notting Hill Gate East Acton (run to) Stamford Brook Earls Court East Putney (run to) Putney Clapham Junction Clapham High Street (run to) Clapham North London Bridge Canning Town.

I was an idiot and stopped my stopwatch at North Greenwich, a station too early. I will attempt to explain my method for working out my accurate time here.

I was aware that we started the challenge according to the clock at Goodge Street ticket hall- thus we have a defined point at which the challenge started. I therefore know that if I return to Goodge Street, starting a new stopwatch as the doors open at Canning Town, I can time how long ago I finished the challenge on my return.

I stop my second stopwatch at 16:34:00GMT according to the Goodge Street clock, recording a time of 43:12. This means I finished the challenge at 15:45:48 GMT, 3 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds after the challenge started.

This method can be used to account for any stopwatch error realised before the challenge has finished, so long as we start the challenge by a defined clock. Gratefully, on this occasion, it was walking distance from the pub.

I felt like I had mediocre connections for a lot of the run. It was very impressive watching Milo get a train ahead at Camden Town with a very slick connection. The folk I joined on the train behind couldn't believe that it was possible to have made a train ahead of the one-minute wait they had seen scheduled. Milo is FAST within stations.

it seemed to be an endless string of 3 minute waits on platforms.

At Edgware Road subsurface, I took a look at the departure board for the adjacent train, heading down to Notting Hill Gate. It said 2 minutes, so I wasn't sure if I would make it after a run through Paddington. Alas, as I was heading through the corridor to the District platforms at Paddington, I saw it pull away before I had even started to cross the bridge to the other side. It was 9 minutes til the next train southbound.

My brain scoffed at this and I actually headed down to the Bakerloo platforms. But no train came in for a few minutes, and I subsequently thought that this was actually a bad option, it was better to head back up to the District.

This really confused Peter when I got back to the platform, who thought I had run to Lancaster Gate. I wish I had thought of this!! We both regretted this.

At East Acton I left Peter behind on the train and ran the long distance to Stamford Brook. There was no bus available- Google Maps sees to have indicated there was a bus shortly before I arrived that was running very early. An exhausting run ensued, which I could perhaps have done quicker had I not had to keep checking directions and had a bit more stamina. I saw a train departing as I approached the station but it was only 3 minutes til the next one when I got to the platform.

Of course, at Earl's Court, I am treated to an Olympia train in the platform first, but a Wimbledon train was a minute behind. The train made good progress and I alighted at East Putney for a run to Putney NR. I absolutely had to make the 8 minutes past, but gratefully I made the 4 minutes past, which gave more leeway for the Overground connection at Clapham Junction. Nice and easy as the platforms are adjacent.

Two more smooth changes to finish. I wasn't sure how I had done, I had doubts as to whether the long run was time effective.

Pub was great, nice to do fairly well in the darts too.

[tangy]

The results of round 4 of the 2024/25 Random 15 Championship held on Saturday 8th March 2025.

This was a live bucket draw round, therefore instead of envelopes to open, challengers present at the meet up picked the stations out of a bag immediately prior to the start of the challenge.

The stations that were drawn out were (in order):
--Goodge Street (meet up/start point)
--Canada Water
--Clapham North
--Paddington (Bishop's Road)
--Old Street
--East Acton
--Piccadilly Circus
--Chancery Lane
--St. Paul's
--Stamford Brook
--Kentish Town
--Putney Bridge
--Embankment
--Holland Park
--Canning Town

There were 22 challengers (including some fresh faces) split into 14 teams.

14th: Myles Swaine-Gray - 6 stations completed (pulled out due to medical issues).
13th: Andrew Baker, Kevin Brown and Das Stevens - 14 stations in 03:51:57 (finished in 04:10:33 at Paddington Bishop's Road).
12th: Amanda Ng and Andrew - 14 stations in 03:50:30 (finished in 04:01:00 at Canning Town).
11th: Andy & David JS - 03:52:12 at Canning Town.
10th: James Wright - 03:37:39 at Canning Town.
9th: Ian McIntyre and Ian Imrie - 03:32:43 at Putney Bridge.
8th: Tangy - 03:30:46 at Canning Town.
=6th: Vincent Karthaus - 03:27:16 at Putney Bridge.
=6th: Edward Hill, Tom Hardy, Josh Valdez and Pascal - 03:27:16 at Putney Bridge.
5th: Glen Bryant - 03:22:46 at Putney Bridge.
=3rd: Milo Ogidel - 03:20:46 at Canning Town.
=3rd: Peter Smyth - 03:20: 46 at Canning Town.
2nd: James Ramsbottom - 03:17:29 at Stamford Brook.
1st: Andrew Chilcraft - 03:15:48 at Canning Town.

Putting these results into the leaderboard gives us the following:

1st: Andrew Chilcraft (39 points) [4 rounds]
2nd: Peter Smyth (33) [4]
3rd: James Ramsbottom (27) [4]
4th: James Wright (25) [4]
5th: Glen Bryant (13) [2]
=5th: Vincent Karthaus (13) [3]
7th: Hugo Marrow (12) [1]
=7th: David Edwards (12) [1]
=7th: Richard Smith (12) [1]
=7th: Ian McIntyre (12) [4]
=7th: Tangy (12) [4]
12th: Milo Ogidel (10) [3]
13th: Maudh Zeroual (8) [2]
=13th: Ian Imrie (8) [2]
=13th: Edward Hill (8) [2]
=13th: Tom Hardy (8) [2]
=13th: Josh Valdez (8) [2]
=13th: Pascal (8) [2]
19th: Kevin Brown (7) [3]
=19th: Andrew Baker (7) [4]
21st: Rhys Jackson (6) [2]
22nd: Daxon Phillips (5) [1]
=22nd: Nick Badley (5) [1]
=22nd: Natt Rea (5) [1]
25th: Stephen Moore (4) [1]
=25th: Rhys Benjamin (4) [2]
27th: Richard Standing (2) [1]
28th: Michael Tsang (1) [1]
29th: Andy JS (0) [4]
=29th: David JS (0) [2]
=29th: Myles Swaine-Gray (0) [2]
=29th: Das Stevens (0) [2]
=29th: Adam U (0) [1]
=29th: Michael D (0) [1]
=29th: Simon Hawthorne (0) [1]
=29th: Emily Pettitt (0) [1]
=29th: James Beck (0) [1]
=29th: Sam Beck (0) [1]
=29th: Emma Copeland (0) [1]
=29th: Susie Carter (0) [1]
=29th: Amanda Ng (0) [1]
=29th: Andrew Ng (0) [1]

The next round will be held on Saturday 15th April 2025. It will be a twist round.

[tubeguru]

The twist being that every competitor has to Paypal me £50 on account of it being my birthday

[tractakid]

The twist being that every competitor has to Paypal me £50 on account of it being my birthday

But Saturday 15th April 2025 doesn't exist. So no PayPal for you.

[tubeguru]

The twist being that every competitor has to Paypal me £50 on account of it being my birthday

But Saturday 15th April 2025 doesn't exist. So no PayPal for you.

April the 15th does though, so if you're holding it on that date, then nothing changes.

[tractakid]

It'll be on Saturday, April 12th.

[Lunaticonthegrass]

Now that the results have been published, I'd like to say a few more things about my finish;

Met up with James at White City. We were on the same route until Notting Hill Gate. Both with two stations left (Stamford Brook and Putney Bridge), and the first train out of NHG being a Circe line, I chose to go round to Gloucester Road and just jump on the first westbound district line train from Gloucester Road (an Ealing Broadway train), rather than wait for the Wimbleware train behind. That ended up being the slower of the two options!

Although, in the pub afterwards a realised a better route after Paddington would of been:

Paddington Lancaster Gate East Acton White City Hammersmith Stamford Brook Earl's Court Putney Bridge

Glen mentioned in the pub that he'd had a whopping 7 minute wait for a train back from Stamford Brook. If he'd had a more normal 2 minute wait, we would have finished at about the same time. Sometimes it's just luck of the draw.

I also contemplated running Paddington Lancaster Gate and as above. I decided against this as it had 3 out-of-stations runs, which I felt was sub-optimal. But maybe it would have been quicker. We'll never know.

Quote of the day goes to Andrew C, when revealing the winning route - "I re-routed at this point - and I'm glad I did because I won."

And finally, a special metion to Andrew and Amanda Ng for possibly a first on a Random 15 Challenge - stopping for lunch. Even more remarkably, they didn't come last!