LS Rag's annual Escape and Evade returned for 2011. Label Online provided live updates throughout the weekend, just 54 hours to get as far away from Loughborough as possible without spending a single penny. All in the name of charity of course, LSRag and the volunteers are doing this in aid of Oxfam.
The winners were the team who could get furthest away from Loughborough and back again by 6pm on Sunday evening.
You can track individual teams here. Also we need your comments and opinions throughout this three day event, comment at the bottom of the page, tweet us @labelonline or email [email protected]
Day Three
19:15 – We're all done, so it's goodbye from me and a massive thank you for joining us throughout the weekend. There's only one way we can really end such an epic stint of live updates and that's with a quote from RAG Chair, Sarah Musgrave, "A big thank you to everyone that took part, everyone that helped out and everyone who was kind enough to help our escape and evaders. It's been a pleasure and I would like to go to sleep now."
19:13 – We'll take one last look at the teams, their furthest point and if/when they are back (times are Sunday unless otherwise stated)…
3 Blondes and a Serb – Dover – 19.20
3 Nice Men – Dover – Back 17.35
A Pimp and his Hoes – Portsmouth – Back 03.18
ABC's – Portsmouth – Back 17.47
Bakewell Tarts – Wellingborough – 00.00
Benji – Paris – tbc
Best of Both – London – Back tonight
Boys on Tour – Portsmouth – Back 15.30
Budgie Smugglers – Bruges – 15.57
Bum Bandits – Thurso (Scotland) – Tomorrow
Busceme Eyes – Newcastle – 10.00 (Sat)
Casualty, Convicts and Clogs – Munich – 15.38
Coors Light – Amsterdam – 15.41
Divide of the Watford Gap – Calais – 01.00
Floor 19 – Pembrokeshire – 01.45
Hurray – Dover – 15.44
Idiots Abroad – Dover – 19.04
Kim Likes Skippy – Coventry – 14.00 (Sat)
Mr Knobbler – Glasgow – 13.30
Norfolk'n'Way – Portsmouth – 21.00 (Sat)
One Direction – Paris – 16.50
Powerpuff Girls – London – 18.00
Reem Team – London – Tomorrow
Sex Pistrols – Portsmouth – 15.48
Shaboom – Portsmouth – 01.45 (Sat)
Stowaways – Heathrow – 12.59
Team 21 – Isle of Wight – 15.29
Team Bryn – Isle of Wight – 17:21
Team Freakin' Awesome – Exeter – 14.00
Team Gayfags – London – 15.30
Team Swift – Hannover – 13.00
Team Telford – France – Back
Team Wiggle – Calais – 00.25
Tequila – Birmingham – 12.30 (Saturday)
The Destroyers – Dover – 23.20
The Happy Travellers – Johannesburg – 12.00
The Lads – Portsmouth – 18.00
The Northerners & Ollie – London – 21.00 (Sat)
Thrio – Perth – 16.23
TLG – Edinburgh – tbc
Uni! No Parents! – Southampton – 16.20
Wololo – Dover – 15.33
18:46 – Well, I think that's just about us done and finish. Congratulations to all competitors, in particular those who managed to reach Europe (and Africa), and to all the RAG committee who have been in the RAG office looking after things and making sure everything goes smoothly.
18:42 – We also believe the parents of one of 'The Happy Travellers' is a pilot, but let's hope that doesn't dampen what's been a brilliant achievement.
18:40 – Rag Chair, Sarah has said she will ring the airline to check the flights to Johannesburg weren't paid for before awarding a year's supply of pizza to the winners. 'The Lads' are back from Portsmouth.
18:35 – Make that 5 teams as 'Team Telford' have just walked through the door. They admit they've had better weekends but are cheered up that their trip to Paris should put them in the top 5.
18:31 – We're still waiting on 6 teams.
18:30 – 'The Reem Team' are still stuck in London.
18:24 – Just a quick reminder that teams are allowed to use money now that the 6pm deadline has passed if they want/need to.
18:11 – Jack Dutton from Divide of the Watford Gap has tweeted us:
@JackDutton3: Thanks for all the pre/during/post trip donations, and to those who helped us on our journey #divideofthewatfordgap #escapeandevade
18:05 – I can also confirm that 'The Happy Travellers' are back and have been since around midday. Whether there will be some questions as to how they managed to get a flight all the way to Jo'burg and back I'm not sure. They certainly got furthest though, no doubts with that one.
18:00 – And there we have it, the deadline has passed. Nobody has arrived so that's 7 teams that haven't got back yet.
17:57 – As we approach the dying moments of Escape and Evade, I've relocated to the RAG office for all the latest updates. We are still waiting for six teams.
17:30 – 30 minutes left!
17:12 –
@JackDutton3: Emotional! Loughborough to Calais to Loughborough, via Leicester, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, London, Dover! @SteRooney93 #escapeandevade
17:00 – One hour to go!!
16:49 – Tom Hill has managed to reach Reading and is going to get train to Birmingham. "Hopefully not getting arrested in between" he tweets.
16:38 – East Midlands trains aren't going make things easy for people it seems.
@HillBAR10: Looks like its going to be a long night arguing with train people
16:33 – Less than 90 minutes to go…
15:53 – I think most people will agree with Amsterdam, Paris, Munich all being reached as well as Jo'burg Escape and Evade has been very successful this year, let's hope the money reflects this for Oxfam.
15:36 – I'm still waiting for official confirmation that 'The Happy Travellers' have managed to get back from Jo'burg…
15:35 – Floor 19 have also returned from Pembrokeshire at the very south western tip of Wales. I believe that's nearly 180 miles too but not quite as far as Calais.
15:18 –
@allymc29: @labelonline @LufbraRagChair think its rubbish east mids trains have fined and took away from charity #labelfrontpage #powerofthemedia
Ally referring to our post at 19:08 of day one, £140 that fine. Tough times for our competitors.
15:12 – Two teams have managed to get to Loughborough from Calais, that's an excellent benchmark of approx 180 miles, they are Divide of the Watford Gap and Team Wiggle.
12:59 – We can confirm the following teams have now made it home: A Pimp and his hoes, Bakewell Tarts, Busceme Eyes, Divide of the Watford Gap, Floor 19, Kim Likes Skippy, Norfolk'n'Way, Powerpuff Girls, Shaboom, Team Wiggle, Tequila, The Destroyers, The Northerners and Ollie.
12:41 – More news from Twitter, and who else but Zak Evans keeping us up to dates, thanks Zak!
@ZakEvans92: Long journey over…Back in England on route to Stanstead to see if @nationalexpress will let us on a bus up to Leicester #escapeandevade
11:30 – 'The Happy Travellers' have just six and a half hours to get from London (probably Heathrow) to Loughborough without spending a penny. How hard can it be?
11:25 – I suspect 'The Happy Travellers' are reading this live text because we've had a tweet:
@Rhod_Kendall: #happytravellers are back in UK #escapeandevade they are heading back to #lufbra. Where have they been?
They've been to Jo'burg, surely you knew that?
11:19 –
@LufbraRagChair: Morning all! 13 teams back from #escapeandevade already. hope the rest of the teams are wrapped up warm for tonight! see you before 6pm sun!
11:15 – No news as yet as to whether 'The Happy Travellers' have managed to get a flight back from Jo'burg. Then again, it's quite difficult to tweet from 30,000ft to be fair…
11:13 – Not sure if this is arrogance or exhaustion, but Team Swift are currently chilling in Victoria Station, London. They made it all the way from Hannover back to Calais and are now in central London.
11:11 – 'Casualty convict and clogs' are also making good progress back through Europe. They've travelled from Munich to Frankfurt, and are scrambling across the terminal to catch a flight back to Birmingham.
11:08 – We'll be expecting teams arriving back into Loughborough throughout the day and it looks like 'Coors Light' could be taking an early clubhouse lead. They've managed to get from Amsterdam all the way back to London and are on a train heading for Peterborough.
11:00 – Good morning lovely people! How's your weekend going so far? Hopefully a little bit more relaxing than our escape and evaders'. Just 7 hours to go now…
Day Two
23:52 – That's us done for another day. Make sure you join us again tomorrow as we discover which of our teams make it back to Loughborough in time to claim the Escape and Evade 2011 Trophy.
23:29 – Our favourite Escape and Evade tweeter Zak Evans has been busy again:
@ZakEvans92: Amazing!! Just got a lift to Paris with @Holly_Crook89 what a hero #escapeandevade.
Superb effort that from Holly, hope it isn't too far out of her way. Holly is sponsorship account co-ordinator for Leosports who graduated from Loughborough with a degree in Social Psychology according to her Twitter profile, certainly well worth a mention for her kindness.
23:12 – If you haven't heard any news from the team you are following, I'm expecting a full update from all the teams from Miss Musgrave at some point this evening, fingers crossed.
23:07 – Could 'Divide of the Watford Gap' be the third team back to Loughborough? If they do, they'll be the clubhouse leaders after a trip which has included Leicester, Cambridge, Dover and now back to Bedford.
22:11 – Meanwhile, 'Team Freakin' Awesome' have managed to get from Leicester to London, via Rugby and are now in Exeter throughout the first two days. They are also making their way home now.
22:08 – 'Mr Knobbler' are making good progress in their return from Glasgow, they've reached Newcastle.
21:38 – The team with the most dull name, 'Team Telford' have managed to reach Orleans. Orleans just south of Paris not of the New variety. They're heading home as they're "tres cold" – I'm sure if they raise lots of money for Oxfam they'll soon warm up.
21:10 – 'Team Swift' are still going. They've now reached Hannover and not settling with the free transport they also report they "have just blagged free sandwiches and getting a coach home".
Is blagging food harder than transport? There won't be many free spaces/seats in food although it's obviously a lot cheaper…
20:24 – By contrast to 'Coors Light', 'Team Swift' have got to Bielefeld in Germany, that's between Dortmund and Hanover for those of you not completely up to date with your German geography.
20:21 – In summary we don't know where 'Wololo' are. 'Coors Light' have now left the delights of Amsterdam and are near Rotterdam it appears they're long journey back to Loughborough has begun.
20:16 – On the event tracker, 'Wololo' are no longer registering as in Toronto.
19:58 –
@SteRooney93: @Lord_Sugar, We're doing #escapeandevade from Loughborough Uni, one group got to johannesburg, it's for Oxfam! Would you help us?
Very bold that from Mr Rooney, wonder if he's contact his namesake at Old Trafford as well. Worth an attempt surely?
19:17 – I can also exclusively reveal that RAG Chair Sarah Musgrave has woken up. She's now up to 4 hours sleep since escape and evade kicked off at 12:30 yesterday afternoon.
19:15 – With less than 24 hours remaining for the teams to get back to Loughborough I feel I should point out that 'Wololo' were in Luton airport this morning it hasn't been officially confirned they are in Toronto.
17:31 – Rather sensibly, some teams are heading back to Loughborough already, remember they must be back by 6pm on Sunday. 'One Direction' who were in Paris are trying to get to Caen Port.
17:29 – RAG Chair, Sarah Musgrace may be having a well-earned nap after being in the office since 7pm last night and not getting any sleep until around 4.30am but there's no stopping our teams. 'Floor 19' have moved on from Cardiff to Pembroke.
17:25 – I've spoken to volunteers in the RAG office, and they have confirmed two teams have returned to Loughborough already. 47 Tequila have given up trying to get a flight out of Birmingham and another team have returned home from Coventry.
17:18 – A second team has managed to get outside of Europe! 'Wololo' have come out of nowhere and tagged themselves as being in Toronto. That's an amazing 3479 miles from Loughborough, not quite the 5716 miles to Jo'burg but can either team return to Loughborough in 24 hours and 42 minutes that remain.
16:07 – As we were saying earlier Zak Evans may not be having the most successful weekend but at least the Rigg-Rut social sec is very good with Twitter.
@ZakEvans92: @labelonline @nationalexpress really helping us out…Now on route to Stansted Airport from London – Serbia?
15:28 – Mr Knobbler has successfully left England and has just got off the coach in Glasgow.
13:38 – Of course, it's not just the various challenges such as Escape and Evade, Lost and Climb Kilimanjaro that RAG are busy with throughout the year. Just last week, they hosted BBC Children in Need in the Sir David Wallace Sports Hall.
13:12 – Poor Zak Evans seems to be really struggling to get out of the south east, he's now on his way back to London with an aim to heading to Brighton afterwards.
@ZakEvans92: Just got National Express to London – hopefully on to Brighton after #escapeandevade @LazarZindovic
12:56 – I think the big question for our teams this afternoon will be, when do they start returning to Loughborough? To be in with a chance of winning, students must register back at the RAG office by 6pm on Sunday night.
12:20 – Speaking of the lovely Rag Chair, she has very kindly just emailed me using the address at the top of the screen with an update on where our teams are this morning, so here we go:
Blondes and a Serb – Dover
3 Nice Men – Maidstone Services
ABC's – Portsmouth
Benji – Dover
Boys on Tour – London
Casualty, Convict and Clogs – Munich
Coors Light – Amsterdam
Divide of the Watford Gap – Dover
Floor 19 – Cardiff
Idiots Abroad – Ashford (Kent)
Mr Knobbler – En-route to Glasgow
Norfolk 'n' Way – Basingstoke
One Direction – Paris
Team 21 – Portsmouth
Team Bryn – Portsmouth/Isle of Wight
Team Freakin' Awesome – London
Team Swift – Salute (France)
Team Wiggle – Calais
Tequila – Back in Loughborough
The Happy Travellers – Johannesburg
Thrio – Ramsgate (Kent)
12:13 – Loughborough's RAG Chair, Sarah Musgrave informs us via twitter that she has spoken to some of the teams and they're all in high spirits. That despite one team being hit with a £140 fine yesterday for travelling by train without paying.
11:13 – Slightly closer to home, 'Floor 19' have successfully got to Cardiff, while 'Mr Knobbler' has reached Boston (Boston Lincolnshire not Massachusettes). Team Swift have made it to Calais.
11:11 – As Sarah Musgrave points out (11.03), the only thing that can prevent a 'The Happy Travellers' victory is the 6pm deadline on Sunday. If we assume for the moment they have return flights from Jo'burg, how will they complete the 100 or so mile journey from Heathrow to Loughborough?
11:03 – We'll kick the morning off with a couple of tweets, don't forget to get in contact with us by tweeting @labelonline:
@ZakEvans92: All you can eat breakfast at Premier Inn …No lift to Calais as yet #escapeandevade.
@LufbraRagChair: @DougHowie1 we are so impressed guys! Have fun, stay safe and remember to get back before 6pm Sunday! we are all amazed – well done!
10:59 – Personally, I thought 'One Direction' would be busy with their musical commitments but apparently not, they're in Paris for Escape and Evade. Quite a scoop that from the LS Rag team which they'd kept very quiet.
10:57 – So just to update you, we can confirm 'The Happy Travellers' have definitely reached Johannesburg. Elsewhere, Coors Light have completed their goal of reaching Amsterdam, 'Casualty, convict and clogs' are in Munich and 'One Direction' are in Paris.
10:51 – While the majority of Loughborough students have been working hard or partying in FND, our Escape and Evade teams have been continuing their attempts to escape from the Loughborough bubble. And I can confirm some have managed to leave the UK shores.
Day One
23:18 – And here in concludes day one of Escape and Evade 2011, here's where we believe various teams are, based on where they last checked in, as they continue their various journeys:
The Happy Travellers: Flying to Johannesburg
The Destroyers: Dover
Team Wiggle and Three Blondes: En-route to Dover
Boys on tour: Portsmouth
Team Swift: Gatwick Airport
ABCs: Guildford
51 The Lads: London
Budgie Smugglers: Brent
Thrio and Uni! No parents!: Heathrow
3 Nice Men: High Wycombe
54 TLG: Oxford
Team 21: Luton
Divide of the Watford Gap: Cambridge
47 Tequila: Birmingham
Mr Knobbler: Liverpool
Thanks very much for your company throughout the day and we'll be back tomorrow morning with lots more developments I'm sure.
21:57 – If you imagine Escape and Evade to be an exhausting 54 hour adrenaline fuelled adventure, then you may be mistaken. The 'Best of Both' team are currently enjoying a pint in London and Steven Rooney is riding first class down to Dover. It's alright for some.
21:39 – Can anyone beat 'The Happy Travellers'? I know it's very early, but the 5,717 miles to Johannesburg is going to take a lot of beating. I think the only potential stumbling block for the team will be getting back before the Sunday evening deadline.
21:35 – LSU Women's Football club will almost certainly be supporting 'The Happy Travellers' as the team includes their coach. @LSUWFC have tweeted "Good luck to our 2s coach who is on board a flight to SA @LSUMedia #escapeandevade"
21:25 – 'Mr Knobbler' have just got off their coach at Liverpool.
21:22 – Rumours from LSUTV Assistant Station Manager, Sam Hampson, that the flights for 'The Happy Travellers' were pre-arranged and they are in fact on their way to Johannesburg. Very clear favourites at this point.
21:17 – News from @LufbraRagChair on Twitter: updates from #escapeandevade – teams hit Sheffield, Dover and Paris!
20:37 – I have relocated home but that won't put a stop to the live updates just yet. In fact, we now have photographic evidence of 'The Happy Travellers' on a plane, which appers to be a South African airline flight, by my reckoning that'll be going to Cape Town or possibly Johannesburg.
20:07 – Coors Light and Benji have both secured journeys from central London and are following in the footsteps of 'The Destroyers' and en-route to Dover.
20:05 – 'Team Swift' have certainly been very busy so far this evening. They've been all the way to Nottingham before heading to Heathrow and are now the first team to try and get flights at Gatwick.
20:03 – 'Floor 19', I'm guessing are from Towers, may be the first to leave England. They're leaving Birmingham and are heading to Cardiff. Unconfirmed reports 'The Happy Travellers' are aboard a plane at Heathrow.
19:19 – According to Twitter, Steven Rooney has managed to get a free train to Liverpool Street Station. Ali Cole, the Towers Hall Chair and his team have been spotted at Birmingham New Street station. Remember the hashtag is #escapeandevade if you want to get involved.
19:08 – We have bad news from '51 The Lads', brave name that, and it hasn't worked with East Midlands trains who have fined them £140 each for travelling without a ticket.
18:52 – 'The Destroyers' have just 8 minutes to try and get on a ferry as passengers from Dover. After 7pm you have to be in a vehicle to cross the channel.
18:48 – "We love ragging" say 'Team 21' who have got to Northampton.
18:46 – '3 Nice Men' have managed to get a lift in a grey Peugeot all the way to High Wycombe, good effort that from a very nice driver.
18:42 – 'The Destroyers' have made very good progress. They're at Dartford Services heading to Dover, are they the first team to be heading for a ferry. We haven't yet heard if the teams at the various UK airports have had any success.
18:40 – Should probably mention that LSRag and volunteers are doing all this hard work for Oxfam. The money from just one escape and evader can provide water for 875 people, medicine for one village for a year or provide buckets of water 14 litres which are designed to prevent bacteria growth.
18:32 – More tweets, Zak Evans from '3 blondes and a Serb': @labelonline currently on route to Medway – how far is that from Dover please? #escapeandevade @LufbraRagChair
18:29 – Faraday student, James Ketteringham has tweeted us:
@LawtonAJ @LSRag The Happy Travellers are on here @DougGowie1. If all goes to plan they could be aboard the flight by now! #escapeandevade
18:23 – Plenty of people using the #escapeandevade hashtag on twitter. Tom Hill from 'Best of Both' is aiming for Amsterdam and 50 minutes ago was at Watford Junction.
18:10 – 'Mr Knobbler' are trying a different tactic to most, they're heading north. They've reached Sheffield and are on a coach heading for Liverpool.
17:53 – 'Thiro' are also struggling with airlines having no luck at Heathrow.
17:51 – '47 Tequila' report that they are hoping some airlines will be charitable at Birmingham airport.
17:44 – We've recieved further news from our teams. The current locations are as follows:
Divide of the Watford Gap – Cambridge
47 Tequila – Birmingham
Floor 19 – Nuneaton
Thrio and The Happy Travellers – Heathrow
Budgie Smugglers – Brent (London)
Uni! No Parents! – Nottingham
Coors light – Leicester
16:12 – 'The Happy Travellers' are hot on the tail of team 'Budgie Smuggler' and have also reached London. We believe they've managed to get to Heathrow Airport and have "just got into departures". Could we have our first team to leave the UK?
15:57 – We have our first team to reach the capital. Team 'Budgie Smuggler' have successfully reached London and are heading for Victoria. We're expecting London to be a very popular target for our teams tonight.
15:06 – A brilliant array of team names as you would expect. My favourite is probably 'A pimp and his hoes' while the most unoriginal has got to go to 'Team Telford'. What team name would you go for?
15:00 – Just four and a half hours, '54 TLG' have taken an early lead, having reached Oxford. Anyone know what TLG might stand for? I'm guessing Tobias, Lucas and Gretchen.
14:02 – Meanwhile, 'Uni! No Parents!' have managed to blag a free bus to Nottingham. Despite heading north from Loughborough, they are now looking to travel south to London.
13:45 – 'Coors Light' have made an excellent start and have already reached Leicester. They have Matt Tooth to thank for that one who has given them a lift to the station.
13:40 – VP Democracy and Communications, Pete Childs, has tweeted us with his support for the students. Don't forget to get involved on twitter @labelonline.
VPDemocracyLSU: Good luck to all those on escape and evade. Also the Rag Team behind it!
13:20 – While we're on the topic of previous successes, in 2009 one team managed to escape from Loughborough all the way to Trinidad. That's an amazing 4,410 miles. Needless to say they didn't make it back to Loughborough in time but a superb effort.
13:05 – You can remind yourself of last year's winners 'Best of Both' journey where they successfully managed to get to Frankfurt in Germany and back within the 54 hour time limit.
12:45 – So what would be your tactics for Escape and Evade? Personally, I think you need to get as much planned beforehand as possible. Where would you try and get to?
12:30 – They're under starter's orders. And we're underway!
12:15 – So, the brave (or foolish) students taking on this monster challenge are completing their final preperations before the off.
