THe date: 23/03/05.
The time: About 12pm.
The place: Zone 1.
The route: could it be 2 hours and 56 minutes?
The current record: 2:55:50, Steve Paull.
The time...
Wait for it....
2 hours............ fifty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds!
2:52:47!
The new record!!! (well, unofficially, but only because there isn't a Guinness one for this.)
Here's the analysis.
I'll admit that I started at Vauxhall. That's an easy and sensible place to start. I got ahead of schedule quickly and, at the 10th stop, I was already 5 minutes ahead of my 2:56 schedule. The first four changes were smooth, all at 1 minute wait or less, but the fifth was a 3 minute wait. Despite this, I was 7 minutes ahead at the 17th stop, and after the 20th stop the train decided to wait in the tunnel. "No! Don't go wrong now!" I thought, but it was alright; it only stopped for 30 seconds. The Aldgate/East run was good but I had to wait for 6 minutes for a train to leave at one of the stations, which was a pain in the arse.
Tube users will no doubt have been told at least five times today that there was a violent, bloody human/train conflict at Holborn at about 1pm or so, subsequently closing Holborn and the Central Line between Lancaster Gate and somewhere else or something.
Upon hearing this news, I thought, "Oh no. That means I can't stop at Holborn, so my attempt won't be valid!"
Then I realised I'd already stopped at Holborn earlier on, and all was OK.
I encountered a lift operator in one of the lifts - a first for me, especially on a challenge. She closed the doors before the rest of the throng of people from the train could barge their way down the corridor to the lift, and up we went.
"Excellent," I said, "I'm doing the Zone 1 stations today, you see."
She replied, "You've not got time on your hands, then?", and as the doors opened, she said "Go, go, go!" which was encouraging, and I ran away into the afternoon sun. In a lift, I also encountered an elderly lady, who warned me not to fall down the stairs, since I was out of breath, thereby having everyone else trip over me. Wise words.
The Picc train kept waiting at the stations, which worried me. It was unnecessary! Probably!
The Bayswater-Earls Court stretch was a pain. The first three (or something stupid like that) trains from Bayswater were Circle trains, so I was forced to take one of these to Gloucester Road and change (a smooth change to a waiting train) in order to get to Earls Court. Taking the bus from High Street Ken was not a gamble I was willing to take!
I wasted a whole 12 minutes waiting for a Hammersmith train. This is unacceptable.
The driver of the final train took great pleasure in waiting at every station o the way to the finish line, as he explained slowly and concisely that "the Central line... has... no... service.... between......" et cetera.
Well, that's it, so there's a new record for the Zone 1 Challenge. Thank you for your attention.
And Tubeguru, it's time to update the site!
Zone 1 Run: 5th Attempt
- CrunchySaviour
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Zone 1 Run: 5th Attempt
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- hwolge
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Well done!
Just out of curiosity (without giving away your route):
* How many runs between stations did you do?
* And how many "normal" changes?
As you know from my site - we did just the Aldgate walk... I'm not saying it's better, just less physically demanding!
And we did 15 "normal" changes.
HÃ¥kan
Just out of curiosity (without giving away your route):
* How many runs between stations did you do?
* And how many "normal" changes?
As you know from my site - we did just the Aldgate walk... I'm not saying it's better, just less physically demanding!
And we did 15 "normal" changes.
HÃ¥kan
Three times Zone 1 Challenge winner
Official record holder in the 2008 Guinness Book of Records, pg 199
Official record holder in the 2008 Guinness Book of Records, pg 199
- CrunchySaviour
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Thats a low number of changes for such a low number of runs and such a short time, Hakan!
I did:
12 normal changes
4 runs (only about 15 minutes' worth of non-normal-change running)
It would have been 11 normal changes if I'd got an Earls Court train from Bayswater in the first place. I was incredibly lucky to immediately (just!!) get a westbound train from Gloucester Road as a result.
I spent 29 minutes waiting for trains in total.
It is possible to do this in less than 2:50, and the record will slowly work its way to 2:45, where it will stay. I am quite sure of this!
I did:
12 normal changes
4 runs (only about 15 minutes' worth of non-normal-change running)
It would have been 11 normal changes if I'd got an Earls Court train from Bayswater in the first place. I was incredibly lucky to immediately (just!!) get a westbound train from Gloucester Road as a result.
I spent 29 minutes waiting for trains in total.
It is possible to do this in less than 2:50, and the record will slowly work its way to 2:45, where it will stay. I am quite sure of this!
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CrunchySaviour .. i've only just noticed this!
You really should have mailed me @geofftech to let me know!!
I would have updated the <a href="http://www.geofftech.co.uk/tubechalleng ... /index.htm" target="_blank">Zone1 area on my site</a> immediately! I'm far more efficient than that <strike>Neil</strike> TubeGuru is!
So .. eMail me!
Ta,
Geoff.
(Oh, and.. excellent time BTW! well done)
You really should have mailed me @geofftech to let me know!!
I would have updated the <a href="http://www.geofftech.co.uk/tubechalleng ... /index.htm" target="_blank">Zone1 area on my site</a> immediately! I'm far more efficient than that <strike>Neil</strike> TubeGuru is!
So .. eMail me!
Ta,
Geoff.
(Oh, and.. excellent time BTW! well done)
- CrunchySaviour
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Oops.... Sorry, Geoff, I just didn't want to brag about it!
Confusing Tubeguru with Neil? Is the cat out of the bag?! Emailing you now.
Confusing Tubeguru with Neil? Is the cat out of the bag?! Emailing you now.
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