tubechallenge.com

Time to put my TOSA hat on and confirm the schedule for the 2026 Winter Tube Olympics.

The TOC (Tube Olympics Committee) has concluded that as London (UK) has all the necessary infrastructure and has hosted previous Games it will again be host city for 2026.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will have the same events included as per the previous games way back in 2018, these are Biathlon, Mouse, Tramlink, Nordic Combined, Random 15 and Full Network. All events marked as "evening" will commence between 18:00 and 18:30 local time.

Due to engineering works on the outer reaches of the Metropolitan Line on the provisional date of the Full Network Challenge, there has been a shuffling around of events to accommodate this.

**REVISED SCHEDULE (26/01/2026)**

Event 1: Tramlink: Tuesday 10th February EVENING EVENT

Event 2: Full Network: Friday 13th February FULL DAY EVENT

Event 3: Mouse: Monday 16th February EVENING EVENT

Event 4: Nordic Combined: Thursday 19th February EVENING EVENT

Event 5: Random 15: Saturday 21st February DAYTIME EVENT

Event 6: Biathlon: Saturday 28th February DAYTIME EVENT (followed by closing ceremony).

Please note, event 4, the Random 15 will also double up as round 4 of the current 2025/26 Random 15 season. So as well as medals for the Olympic aspect, normal Random 15 Challenge scoring will also be applied and will count for the Random 15 league table.

Full details of each event will be posted individually nearer the time.

Tangy
the TOSA

7th February is far from ideal as clashes with Myles stag day

Looking at those events, I think the events I'm most likely to do would be Mouse, Tramlink and maybe Nordic combined.

I will be abroad for a diving holiday between 11 and 17 February so I will join the Olympics apart from the Random 15 challenge.

Likelihood of attending the FNC: 90%. Awaiting annual leave requirement. For all participants, you won't see me at the top end of the Met as I am starting elsewhere!

I'll be there at the R15 too.

I've made the (sensible) decision to give the Full Network event a miss. I was really looking forward to it, but I need to be in Worcester by 10am the day after, in a reasonable state both physically and mentally.

Still down for the R15 on the 21st.

The Explorer Ticket webpage explains what the Mouse challenge is but it doesn't say what the Biathlon and Nordic challenges are. Is there somewhere else I can find out what these consist of? I've done a quick search but haven't found anything yet.

ANDY_JS wrote: ↑20 Jan 2026, 23:21 The Explorer Ticket webpage explains what the Mouse challenge is but it doesn't say what the Biathlon and Nordic challenges are. Is there somewhere else I can find out what these consist of? I've done a quick search but haven't found anything yet.

Hi Andy

Here are post from 2014

Biathlon
1. The event will be played in pairs, anyone not having a partner will be paired using the "nearest and dearest" method.
1a. Each team will then select one player to throw nearest the bull to determine the starting order.
2. If there is an odd number of participants the TOSA will not take part but will monitor all teams to ensure fair play.
3. The challenge involves visiting four pubs and playing a game of "Around the clock" at each pub.
4. If you manage to score three consecutive numbers you get one extra throw, i.e. if you throw 1,2,3 you get one dart at 4, if you successfully hit 4 you get one dart at 5 and so on.
5. Each game of "Around the clock" must be concluded on bull or 25 before the team can leave the pub.
5a. The final game can only be finished on bullseye.
6. At the start The first seeds will throw 1st and 2nd, followed by the second seeds who throw 3rd and 4th.
7. Each team's watch starts when their first dart is thrown and finishes on bullseye in the final pub.
8. At each pub you must consume 1 pint or non-alcoholic or substitute before departing to the next pub.
8a. For alcholic drinks you can replace 1 pint with a standard glass of wine (175ml) or a double (50ml) for spirits.
9. If either team member does not take a drink there is a 5 minute penalty per missed drink per team member, so if both team members missed a drink the penalty would be 10 minutes.
10. You can travel between pubs on foot or by any means of public transport.
11. The starting pub is the The Champion, the final pub is William IV, Leyton High Road, Bakers Arms, Leyton. The other 2 pubs are The Angel in the Fields (Marylebone Village) and The Bricklayers Arms, Gresse Street (off TCR).
11a. The Angel in the Fields and The Bricklayers Arms can be visited in either order, it is your choice which pub you visit first. However both pubs MUST be visited before heading to the William IV.
12. When you arrive at each pub chalk your names on the board and as other teams arrive they must chalk their names below so that teams play in strict rotation.
12a. You can start playing as soon as you arrive, you don't have to wait for other teams to arrive before you commence play.
13. If you find a dartboard in use you will have to use your negotiating skills to get access, this is all part of the challenge!
13a. If you cannot gain access to the dartboard at The Angel in the Fields or The Bricklayers Arms you can try and find a substitute dartboard at another pub (of your choice) or wait until the board becomes free.
14. Full rules will be clarified on Saturday.
15. The TOSA's decision is final!
16. This isn't as complicated as it sounds!
The event will start at 14:00 but there will be some warm up matches beforehand at The Champion.

Nordic Combined
1. You have 60 minutes to visit as many UNIQUE London Underground stations as possible, 1 point is available for each one visited.
2. An additional 2 points can be gained if you interchange between lines, either internally or externally. So an interchange between the Northern and Jubilee at London Bridge would yield 3 points (1 point for the station and 2 for the interchange). An external interchange say between Warren Street and Euston Square will yield 4 points (1 point for each station plus 2 for the interchange).
3. An interchange between two lines that share the SAME tracks to the next station will NOT count. Therefore a change at Euston Square between the Circle and Met will gain you nothing!
4. A successful interchange will only count when the doors on the train you are departing on close fully, beware of this when you are near to the end of your 60 minutes.
5. Doubling back through the same interchange twice will not score you any additional points see the examples below (supplied by Soup Dragon).
6. You may start at any station you desire in between 1730 and 1815. You only have ONE attempt, therefore once you have started you may NOT reset your watch and start again

Part two: Pub quiz

The pub quiz will be hosted by yours truly (therefore I will only be challenging in part one of this event). The quiz will be held in the Horse & Groom (128 Great Portland Street), ideally I would like to start by 1945. There will be 60 questions (6 topics of 10 questions each) on a printed sheet. The quiz may be done in teams and not necessarily the partner you did part one with.

It is important the challengers do not talk amongst each other about how many points they scored in part one as this could influence which team you join for the quiz.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Examples of Nordic Combined scoring:

--Example 1: Say you are travelling from Camden Town to Moorgate on the Northern Line (Bank Branch), and you decide to change at KXSP to the Victoria Line and go back to Euston, and then switch back to the Northern line to continue to Moorgate. this would score ZERO bonus points, You would only score SIX points for the stations you've visited.

--Example 2: Travelling from Camden Town to TCR on the Northern Line (this time via Mornington Cres.) You change at Euston, Northern (Bank Branch) to KXSP, then on to the Victoria Line to Warren Street and then back onto the Northern Line to TCR. This combo of stations and changes would score you SIX bonus points and SEVEN stations visited = 13 points.

Are we able to move event 1 to 28th Feb to avoid clash with Myles stag day ?

MYLES is getting married?

Golf wrote: ↑25 Jan 2026, 13:24 MYLES is getting married?

I assume so, he's having a stag day in London

I don't think tramlink is possible on 16th Feb ?
No service 11th - 25th Feb East Croydon to New Addington, Elmers End, Beckenham Junction
Could switch dates for Mouse / Tramlink ?

Due to other (non tube challenge related) celebrations going on and engineering work affecting the proposed dates of some Tube Olympics events, there will be a revised schedule as follows:

Event 1 (Biathlon) is moved the 28th February and will become event 6 (followed by the closing ceremony). The Tramlink and Mouse have swapped places thus Tramlink is now on the 10th February (becoming our opening event) with the Mouse moved to Monday 16th February.

The full event listing is now:

Event 1: Tramlink: Tuesday 10th February EVENING EVENT

Event 2: Full Network: Friday 13th February FULL DAY EVENT

Event 3: Mouse: Monday 16th February EVENING EVENT

Event 4: Nordic Combined: Thursday 19th February EVENING EVENT

Event 5: Random 15: Saturday 21st February DAYTIME EVENT

Event 6: Biathlon: Saturday 28th February DAYTIME EVENT (followed by closing ceremony).

Tangy.
(Tube Olympics Supreme Administrator).

Will the pubs for the biathlon be the same as those in GU's 2014 instructions?

It seems three of them were within walking distance of each other then a trip up the Victoria Line to Leytonstone for the William IV. Not really a configuration that gives much opportunity for variation.

Maybe a non-pub start (so there are three "first" pubs to choose from) and the names and addresses of the pubs in sealed envelopes would make it more interesting.

WHY dowe have to go to william iv its a shithole of a pub