Zone 1 Challenge 2008

So - Friday 30th May saw me taking part in my first Zone 1 Challenge Cup event. So it was with excitement and trepidation that I gathered with many other members of the forum (www.tubeforum.co.uk) at Oxford Circus station ready for the drawing ceremony. It was King's Cross St Pancras that came out of the hat and so off we set...

I'd drawn up a circular route for this one or two weeks in advance as a back-up should a station like King's Cross have been drawn. Had there been fewer options out of the start station I would have most likely had a crack at planning something better. Originally planning to go solo again, I was joined by Steven (Joy54) on the SSL platforms at King's Cross who'd only gotten out of bed at about 1215 and therefore had missed his team. He tried to regain contact with them but in the end decided to tag along with me instead.

We ended up waiting the best part of 10 minutes for a H&C train to Aldgate East from which we had a most uneventful run to Aldgate, joined by Rick Mansworth and Perry Vale. At Aldgate we had little more than about a two minute wait for a Circle train during which time we received some very enthusiastic interest from some business-like looking gents; which was all very fun! Rick and Perry left us (I believe) at either Mansion House or Temple with their intention being to run it up to St Pauls IIRC... rather them than me! And we continued down to Victoria (via Sloane Square) where we had a very swift change down onto the southbound Vic.

Two stops down to Vauxhall and here's where things started to get hardcore... the run up to the mainline station was a piece of cake, passing The Subways going the opposite direction down the tunnel and high-fiving them as we passed. Up to the mainline station and its incredibly long stairs up to the platforms (just what you don't need when you've already done enough running!) So I trailed behind Steven up to platform four where I heard a cry come down of "train arriving, platform seven, move it!!" so I summoned the last of my energy to get myself down the stairs, along the rest of the concourse and up to platform 7 with Steven passing me pretty quickly. Almost collapsing up the stairs I heard Steven ahead of me yelling for anyone to hold the doors for us, soon followed by shouts of "open the f***ing doors". This can't have been good I thought... I got up to the platform and see Steven stuck either side of the closed doors in a somewhat comical fashion (sorry Steven) with the guard yelling back at him that "no I won't open them; you shouldn't have jumped through closing doors". So with a little struggle we manage to prise the doors open and it's off to Waterloo we go... and I'm sure you can tell by now that I wasn't looking forward to the next 10-15 minutes or so...

Waterloo... off the train we jump, hoping to have been in the right position for the mid-platform dive-down for the Jubilee platforms. No such luck - some idiot had decided to put a gate across it. So another lung-busting run across the concourse, down the myriad escalators and eventually losing sight of Steven. Coming down the stairs to the Jubilee platforms I hear frantic cries imploring me to hurry up... which I try to. I get there and dive through the open doors, to be told by Steven that I'd almost missed the train with the doors having closed properly moments before but for some reason re-opening. The last two runs of the southern loop pass without major incident with a two-minute wait at London Bridge and about a one-minute wait at E&C and it's off up the Bakerloo for a nice rest, all the way to Paddington.

Off the Bakerloo at Paddington and the "wrong way" up the platforms. I have trouble with the new ticket barriers (I sense a theme here) and Steven and I get split up taking two different routes. So for me it's up platform 8 and over the footbridge and down on the H&C platform... to see Steven waiting across the tracks. Thankfully there wasn't a train in at the time and he makes his way over the bridge to join me. Annoyingly there isn't another train in for the next 3-4 minutes or so. (Note to TFL: platform indicators are there to tell us when the trains are... NOT what line we're on! Please credit us with a modicum of intelligence!)

Paddington across to Euston Square again goes off without incident and we somehow manage to avoid any major problems at Edgware Road (the place where logic takes its lunch break!) and we come up the stairs at Euston Square to find a Euston-bound bus just pulling in which saves us a run and probably 2-3 minutes. Here's where we start thinking that sub-3 could realisitically be on the cards and hopefully a top-10 finish (little did we know...) Down to TCR we go and through some awful crowds in the tunnels down to the westbound Central. A little confusion over earlier discussions to route amendments saw a frantic moment when we jumped on a westbound and I somehow got it into my head that we needed to be on the eastbound sitting in the opposite platform. It would appear though, that Logic had actually used that train to return from its protracted lunch-break and normal service was thus resumed with no loss of time. It was here we met up with Editorsfoot and we all made our way to Queensway.

It transpired that Editorsfoot was ever so slightly ahead of us as far as routes were concerned and thus the gauntlet was thrown down! We kept pace with each other all the way down the Bayswater Road and down onto the southbound platform only to be met with Circles across the board (we all needed District for Earl's Court). We eventually persuaded ourselves to take the first Circle and check the platforms at HSK seeing as a District would be more likely there. No such luck and we decided to chance our hand with the Cromwell Curve and a quick Piccadilly double-back to Earl's Court. Bad move...

HSK to Gloucester Road went off with no problems and a minimal wait at the Cromwell Curve. Quick lifts down to the Piccadilly and bang a five, yes folks, five minute wait for Earl's Court. You'd expect this late night/early morning, not at 3:30-ish in the afternoon! Much cursing later and we find ourselves at Earl's Court with another long wait for a Piccadilly up to Russell Square for a double-back to Holborn. Once again (yup, you guessed it)... problems with the Piccadilly. "Easy" we thought as we came across to the platform and saw a southbound train due... then the next one becomes due... and the next one... and the control room aren't even answering the information phone. It was here we thought something had gone seriously wrong... but no, five-or-so minutes later a train pulls in and we leg it down to the Central at Holborn knowing that sub-3 is definitely out the window now thank-you-very-much-Piccadilly...

Holborn to Bank goes swimmingly and it's a seamless change down to the Northern line where we catch our final train of the day up to Angel, clocking in at 03:04:53.

All in all a cracking run - especially with a circular route - and with a little more luck in the final stages we may well have placed higher [/cliche]

Just one note from it all - (TFL take note) five minute waits for trains in the middle of the day is NOT normal service, so next time I hear one of your sodding anouncements to the contrary, you'd better run!

And finally, a big thanks to Steven for helping out with door info throughout the run and of course, door holding at strategic moments too!

Time - 03:04:53
Finish - Angel