Feb. 29, 2024, 8:25 a.m. - 36 WERE IN COPENHAGEN! And made it, alongside so many others. It's been a blast, we've hit 4 big European cities and met so many cool people. Claire has to go for an emergency dental appointment (that was a wild card dealt to us), but despite everything we made it. Forever thankful for the generosity we've encountered on the way. From Ellie, Claire and Barry. Copenhagen let's be avin yaaa
Feb. 29, 2024, 1:54 a.m. - Ellie speaking ! There are 4 other teams on this bus rn ! What the hell. Have u guys been on this bus since 11am?? No didn't think so. Stay off our turf !! Anyways off to bed to sleep. Today has been too chaotic and I need a long sleep to rejuvenate myself. Especially after I used up so much energy laughing at Barry getting his head stuck in a bus door lol. Wish I'd filmed it for you guys
Feb. 29, 2024, 1:43 a.m. - SLEEP we managed to stay on the bus, and there's 4 other teams with us. So next stop Copenhagen! It's a sad end but we did get to visit Paris and Amsterdam in a day, so that's pretty worth it. However I did get my head stuck in the doors of a bus today - it was the most embarrassing incident of my life my head was literally stuck in looking at the passengers whilst my body remained outside as the driver shouted you fucking idiot. And somehow that's not even top 3 of the wildest things that have happened today. The girls are asleep and I'm about to doze off too. Peace out from team 36
Feb. 29, 2024, 1:01 a.m. - JESUS do we have some updates. But we'll save them for another time. We're about to be in Hamburg and will meet the other teams, then heading straight to Copenhagen
Feb. 28, 2024, 8:50 p.m. - so we made the bus (still unpacking the drama of that experience) and have just received the urgent update about transport strikes in Hamburg. So going to try our luck at just staying on this bus cause it goes all the way to Copenhagen like others have done. If not we can just get a ticket tomorrow before it's all sold out and we're genuinely trapped. Next stop: Copenhagen??
Feb. 28, 2024, 7:09 p.m. - team 36 checking in! Made it to Amsterdam, what a utopia that I'll (Claire) miss when we get the connecting bus to Hamburg! (our next destination) dunno what's the craic after that but hopefully Copenhagen!!! I am currently having the biggest burrito I've ever seen, xoxo love you Amsterdam
Feb. 28, 2024, 2:53 p.m. - get wrecked bc we r taking 2nd last 😎currently on the bus to Amsterdam eta 2 hrs !!! Stopped for the essentials (nicotine and food)!
Feb. 28, 2024, 10:46 a.m. - Ellie - currently hopping about seats on this bus more than I've hopped about places on this hitchhike in an attempt to sit together but people keep kicking me out their assigned seat :(
I've only just realised it's actually a 15 hour bus ride and I'm not sure how we will survive that long. But at least we have hope we will actually make it to Copenhagen! Shock!
Feb. 28, 2024, 10:27 a.m. - Claire speaking, but not for long because Barry is about to take off his shoes. death by Barry's foul feet 👣 wonder if Adam from Leeds' feet fetish man would be brave enough to lick them
Feb. 28, 2024, 10:25 a.m. - we only just made the bus. And yes - it's a bus across Europe. Is that cheating? Probably. But did we pay for it? No. Go big or go home. We just spent our afternoon in Montmartre and have an 8 pack of croissants for the disgustingly long bus to Hamburg. See you all in Copenhagen?
Feb. 28, 2024, 9:36 a.m. - Paris souvenirs BOUGHT. Our bus to Germany leaves in 15 minutes🤠
Feb. 28, 2024, 8:30 a.m. - We're on our way to Montmarte in Paris with Veronica from Germany!! Tickets to the Eiffel Tower are sold out, disaster, so in the hour before our bus we're heading up to Montmartre to get a view of the city. Will also buy some Paris souvenirs for the safety team if Sam commits to never calling Barry small again. Listen up girlies who doubted us: the sun is out in Paris, there's men running past with baguettes, and our hearts are full in the city of love
Feb. 28, 2024, 4:25 a.m. - WHOOPS I fell asleep whilst typing out our sleep update and caused a bit of a panic. Would like to reiterate our love for the safety team. Devastating update to report is there's no tickets for the Eiffel Tower left but we will find something to do to flex that were in Paris.
In other more important news regarding actually getting to Paris, it's 5am and the only vehicle in sight is a street sweeper. It's looking superb my dudes I can't believe our luck Reims was the best decision we've ever made 👍
Feb. 27, 2024, 8:56 p.m. - GUYS we made it to Reims. David is a lovely lovely man and took us into the centre. His entire chat was about his car and there was only so long I (Barry) could pretend to be straight and heavy interested in cars whilst the girls slept. The dashboard was walnut, if you were wondering.
U might be thinking our plan to make it to Paris is a wack idea and there's no chance we'll make it in time for a morning bus, but how about shut your damn mouth. We'll be in Copenhagen before you know it. Maybe even before you. You think we learned our lesson about going to the centre of big cities and hitchhiking out? Then think again.
Our bus leaves Paris at 10am and WE WILL climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower tomorrow morning. That's a team 36 promise. Then straight to Hamburg. Then hitchhike from Hamburg to Copenhagen. The two bottom teams came together to be an even worse team. Might be last but having a blast.
Feb. 27, 2024, 4:38 p.m. - The streak continues and we've been picked up by david who is going to drive us to Paris in a baby blue vintage rolls Royce 🤠 she's gorgeous
Feb. 27, 2024, 2:27 p.m. - hi troops Claire speaking; by pure luck we secured 3 tickets onto the Dover-Calais ferry using the £40 from Paul! (hope u turn a profit on ur house Paul) spirits: high but exhausted, glad to see a couch to take a cheeky nap on and to say goodbye to the UK (finally)
Feb. 27, 2024, 11:29 a.m. - we picked up Ellie so our team has grown from 2 to 3!! We're just gonna take the ferry as foot passengers cause there's no cars stopping here and we're running out of time.
BUT we just had someone following our page buy bus tickets from Paris to Hamburg, which seems rogue as hell but it was kind so we're going to take the risk and try to get to Paris by tonight 🇫🇷 and if we're lucky we'll get some time in Paris before the bus. Kind of living our best life if we make it
Feb. 27, 2024, 9:56 a.m. - Paul the absolute legend dropped us off in Dover and gave us £40!! But in £1 coins lol. He also bought us sandwiches, coffee and organs to top up our depleted vitamin starved bodies what a babe. We are on a new streak babyyy
Feb. 27, 2024, 9:37 a.m. - we got a lift to dover!! And we're now picking up a member of team 31 who's joining us! We're coming for you Ellie!! 🫶
Feb. 27, 2024, 8:46 a.m. - still here but someone just gave us a bouquet of white roses to use as collateral for a lift 🌹❤️
Feb. 27, 2024, 7:25 a.m. - our 48 hour update:
- glided to Newcastle with Rosie full of hope
- Adam, who once had his toe sucked on a hitchhike, took us from Newcastle to Leeds
- got stuck at Skelton services for ages (don't want to talk about it)
- stayed the night in a hotel paid for by kindness, unreal
- spent forever again at Leeds
- got trapped in central London and got a train to Maidstone bought for us (which gave an hour in London for a little wine at the station - not donated but paid for by us sadly)
- got tipsy
- got on the wrong train
- had to then pay for a bus to the services cause we had to get off the train (burning money at this point)
- forced to walk along the side of a motorway because Google maps lied
- Made it to Maidstone! And won a lucky toy pig from the claw machine
- currently trying to hitch a ride to Calais
We might not be out the UK, but people have been soooo kind to us so we're in high spirits team 36 comeback lets gooo
Feb. 26, 2024, 11:32 p.m. - SLEEP pieces of good info: we managed to unplug the claw machine from hell (turns out several groups hate this thing) and we have managed to get on a sofa in the services to sleep whilst it's closed. Stocked up on hula hoops and meal deals. And up super early for the ferry from Dover. We finally made it south🙏🙏 to all the teams in Europe: we're coming for u (we're definitely not)
Feb. 26, 2024, 8:59 p.m. - 36 still here with the most traumatising toy claw machine that refuses to shut up and keeps playing the same melody out loud over and over and over again. We're gonna unplug it once the staff leave. As much as we shit talk it we did win a toy pig from it which we're talking as a sign of luck for tomorrow but otherwise I'd rather claw my eyes out if this thing doesn't stop making noise
Feb. 26, 2024, 7:05 p.m. - we made it to Maidstone services, but not without having to walk along the side of the M20 cause Google maps fucked us right over. There's some other teams here, yes chef have been here for 6 hours. Looks like a night in the services...
Feb. 26, 2024, 4:22 p.m. - nah fuck off we're on the wrong train
Feb. 26, 2024, 4:18 p.m. - we took it one drink too far and missed our first train, but the person at the gate let us use the ticket for another one which means we're now off to maidstone!! (which conveniently is where we got still unresolved trauma from last year after sleeping there overnight)
Feb. 26, 2024, 3:46 p.m. - between both of us on this trip weve emitted as much vape pollution as a coal power plant. As times get more desperate Claire has offered to flash so we can get across the channel
Feb. 26, 2024, 3 p.m. - still here, but someone has given us £40 and we're not sure what to spend it on (NOT more wine). A friend is coming to visit us in an hour and has offered to pay the train to Maidstone to get us out of central so we'll stay around St Pancras for now. The cowboy hats are not doing down well in central London 🤠
Feb. 26, 2024, 2:39 p.m. - we came we made a terrible decision and came to central London and it's impossible to leave and we have no cash. So going to try our luck at St Pancras and get a train to Maidstone cause other racers seemed to have luck getting people to buy a train. It's 2pm and we're 2 glasses of wine down each xx
Feb. 26, 2024, 10:34 a.m. - we may not be far, but we have planned our entire day around being somewhere with signal to catch the drop for tickets to kings of Leon in london in July. And we GOT EM so who's the real winners. At the rate we're moving, we might just about make it to London in time for it🤩🤩🤩 might not make it to Denmark but if there was a Race2SkeltonServices then we got that one in the bag 💰
Feb. 26, 2024, 9:15 a.m. - migrating south with the energy of a seagull dying from bird flu. Although after HOURS of suffering in Skelton services and as delirium set in we got picked up by an overnight coach driver who's taking his empty bus down south. He has picked up race2 racers before years ago and took them to their final destination (Stockholm) but sadly not going to Europe this time. His bus has beds on the top floor so our streak of driving in comfort continues (although we're not allowed on the beds😞)
Feb. 26, 2024, 7:07 a.m. - and were up. But not off. Girlbossed too hard this morning and the lorries don't leave for another hour. So plan B is to get a coffee then set off to catch the bananas. The lorry drivers tell us we've got a good chance of escaping. In some bad news Claire has an inflamed tooth and is certain it's sepsis
Feb. 25, 2024, 10:19 p.m. - 36 we took the offer of the hotel and let me tell u it's BOUJEE as hell. We're drinking wine watching judge Judy on the tv and life is good. Tomorrow we will wake up with PAID FOR breakfast and fly south like a migrating bird. Enjoy your sleeps in service stations gals we'll be thinking of u from our deluxe double bed
Feb. 25, 2024, 8:17 p.m. - 36 Still here. A couple has offered to put us up in the hotel next door, but we'd rather wait it out and see if we can get further south. It's not looking good
Feb. 25, 2024, 5:27 p.m. - made it to a service station in Leeds thanks to Adam!! He told us his worst hitchhiking experience, the guy driving him stopped in the middle of nowhere, told him he had a massive foot fetish and said he wouldn't go any further unless he let him suck his toes?? Actual laughed so much - thanks Adam you're a saviour and we both appreciate you not making us gobble ur dogs 🦶
Feb. 25, 2024, 4:04 p.m. - made it to Newcastle! Then got stuck at a petrol station and got told Sainsbury's is private property and we were forced to leave😞 but some legend has picked us up and is taking us to Leeds!! Quote of the ride: "I promise I'm not sexist, but what I'm about to say will probably be sexist". Stay tuned
Feb. 25, 2024, 1:10 p.m. - crossing the Scottish border baby!! What's worse than Dundee? England. The Scottish flags will now be hidden so we don't get attacked after the rugby result yesterday 🏴🏴🏴👏
Feb. 25, 2024, 11:14 a.m. - we used the £20 to get the bus to St Andrews where we bagged a drive to Newcastle yasss 🚙 (and also meant we could run to see our dog who were doing the race in honour of and who we have dearly missed in the 6 hours since we last saw her)
Feb. 25, 2024, 10:26 a.m. - We got dropped off in Dundee. I spent more than 20 years trying to escape this hell of a town. I did it before and I'll do it again. Also the Krispy Kreme man gave us about 40 free doughnuts and someone gave us 20 quid ❤️ what a nice start!
