CHARITY RUN 2009

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What were you doing on Friday the thirteenth ? Us lot were wrapping up warm against the freezing cold standing in a service station car park on the M25 at night in February. The idea......drive around the M25 in its entirety.....at night.....in winter....with the hoods down.

It was all in aid of the MGF Register charity for 2009, the Stoke Mandeville Spinal Foundation, and the 40 or so entrants raised somewhere in the region of £650 which blasted through our £500 target for the entire year.

With three start points and a motorway system blocked in three places and a feeder motorway also closed it was not looking good by mid evening. Having already postponed the run for a week ironically due to the arctic conditions the previous Friday being too Arctic like we were determined to go ahead but Firday the Thirteenth had struck. With cars trying to get to South Mimms stuck on the M40 and cars trying to get to Clacketts stuck on the M25 it was not looking good. There was no choice but to postpone the start for.....an hour. By 11pm most of the problems had cleared so the Thurrock crew were formally briefed by Andy Phillips (who came up with the daft idea in the first place) and set off on the first leg from Thurrock to South Mimms encountering an army of cones and heavy machinery as roadworks spread like a rash across the motorway. With two practice tunnels on the northern stretch those with sports exhausts were able to drop a gear and make a bit of noise before the main tunnel at Dartford on the opposite side of London. The South Mimms group prepared to join in which most did apart from those that followed Jon up the A1....whoops. With a larger group it began to feel like a real event and not just a drive along a motorway as the line of Fs stretched in to the distance. The group skirted Heathrow and plunged to the bottom of the M25 heading for Clacketts and the last pick up point with the smallest group, all of whom seamlessly melded into the line as they cruised by the exit to the services. With the whole group now together there was a proud feeling of achievement as cars passed each other and exhausts rattled and roared. The Thurrock group had nearly completed the circle as the Dartford Tunnel approached and the noise of revving engines and the occasional tyre squeal could be heard along the line of barriers at the tunnel entrance. The entire group fed into Thurrock again and said goodbye to the main starters who could now head for home. The South mimms and Clacketts groups were left in smaller numbers to finish the circle themselves and set off in to the early hours to head north and face those roadworks. As the cars circumnavigated the M25 they began to peel off at the junctions they joined on and headed into the morning and a nice warm cup of cocoa and finally a cosy bed in which to thaw out.

Big thanks to all those who took part and raised money for the event particularly the organisers.