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London to Brighton Run ’07
Account of the day
3.00am & the alarm clock sounds. Having managed to grab a precious few hour’s sleep I bounced out of bed full of excitement in anticipation of the day ahead. After a quick bit of brekkie & bath I woke the rest of the household who were less than enamoured at my high spirits. Eventually I got them moving & we met up with the rest of the club who were cruising up from Eastbourne at 4.30.

Neil led the way along our customary route through some lovely country lanes (I prefer this to doing the proper run). Paul did a quick detour after remembering he had left his ticket at home, but soon caught us up. Various forms of wildlife entertained us in their efforts to escape our wheels & we made it to Crystal Palace soon after 6.

Within minutes we had set our BBQ’s up on the wall & EDMC smoke signals could soon be seen, along with the wafting smell of bacon & sausages.

Dave appeared a while later & not too happy as the sidewalk had only just made it. After a failed attempt to get it going with Gary’s battery, a small band of mechanics went to investigate & found the problem to be a faulty wire. Dave then left to get to Brighton early to join his Mk1 on the Miniworld stand.

Alan & a few college mates had camped overnight & were at the front of the queue. While they were making their way to Brighton, the rest of us had to wait our turn.

We finally left Crystal Palace at about 9am & soon were split up by traffic lights & roundabouts. Eventually, we all made it down to Madeira Drive to meet up with those who were sensible enough to opt for a lie-in & set up our club stand. Josie’s hard work transforming our humble gazebo into Gypsy Jim’s fortune telling tent really paid off. Gypsy Jim him/herself kicked off our EDMC cross-dressing theme * soon, most had changed into their eye-catching outfits. The mini’s on the stand looked great with their moustaches, eyes & handkerchiefs on their “heads”. Thank you Tony for your artwork. Hank looked particularly good as a huge sandcastle!

The fun & games in the main arena started early afternoon with the soapbox challenge. Team EDMC were Daz (minus high heels for this event), Josie & Tom. They each took turns in pushing & riding in our superb deckchair based go-kart. The sight of Daz trying to run in a dress drew a lot of laughs from the crowds of onlookers. Though they finished the course in good time, it was not enough to take a prize. Well done though to Gaz, Paul & Daz for their great creation!

Next up was the pit-stop challenge. Team “Nut Breakers” made up of Josie, Alex, Shirley & Myself huddled together for a final team talk by Josie & a quick confidence boost. The boys; Paul, Dave, Daz (still in a dress) & Alan looked cool, calm & collected. The organisers went through the rules & instructions before we were allowed to climb aboard our “Bini’s”.

A screech of tyres by Josie we were off. We all rushed to get our equipment & were soon down to work. The boys were like a well oiled machine & soon had the job done in about 4 minutes! Meanwhile, the girls were struggling with their locking wheel nuts, but cheered on by team coach Jim & a large crowd of admirers, we too, finally finished in a time of 8 minutes. Once we had caught our breath, we were informed by the organisers that no other teams had appeared to challenge us. After a search for the missing teams & much discussion as to whether we should go head-to-head again, another team was found. Our brave boys went into battle again & this time finished in a very good time of 3:47minutes. As no further teams were willing to risk the chance of being beaten by a bunch of girlies, the competition was closed & our team of boys were declared the winners!

Tired & hungry, we made our way wearily back to the club stand to change into more suitable clothes & then headed off for a late lunch.

Other club members had taken advantage of the trade stands & numerous purchases were made, while some just enjoyed the sunshine & lounging by the club stand.

Later in the afternoon we made our way to the Miniworld stand ready for the prize giving. Eventually the announcement came for the winners of the pit-stop challenge so Dave, Paul & Daz made their way to the stage to collect their trophy from Monty & have their photo taken…hopefully for the magazine. They then rushed off to collect the spoils of war - 4 jacks, 4 wheel braces & 4 torque wrenches.

A very happy, but tired, gang of members set about dismantling the stand & packing everything away & London 2 Brighton 2007 drew to a close.

Thank you to everyone who took part & helped with the team events & the making of the club stand. I hope you had as good a day as I did!

[Reported by Rachel]