First Three Days of The Classic Run: Vikings, Princesses and Panic

The Classic Run has kicked off, and the first updates are in. Apparently, it is quite a bumpy ride for our participants, who have braved through all of the obstacles that tried to block their way.

 
Day 1 started off with a bit of delay, because racers were supposed to be at the Hotel Deccan Plaza for registration at 8.30 a.m., but the first team to arrive, the “Punjabi Hornstars” from South Africa arrived at 9 a.m. This team joined the race thanks to a recommendation from two of our previous competitors, Many and Matt. The other teams soon followed, but Team 14 have already encountered some problems: their luggage was lost, their moped transportation was delayed and Jack was stung by a bug. Jack and his teammate Bridget were immediately liked by everyone – they have really amused the other teams with their questions and actions. Once the registration was finished the Briefing could start. One of our groups, Team 16, didn’t show up until the last minute of the Briefing. They joined us in the Practice run.

 
The Practice session was filled with laughter and fun; all the teams had a small problems of some or the other. Almost all the vehicles had a back gear problem, keeping the Chennai Garage people busy until the teams left the Practice Ground. As usual, some of the teams picked up the art of driving a rickshaw really fast, while others struggled a bit. In the evening, the Travel Scientists organized a dinner party to welcome our racers. It was a party that most of the people didn’t want to leave, even after we politely asked them to do so. The situation resembled the line from the song called Hotel California: “You can check in at any time you like, but you can never leave.” The amazing first day came to an end when our racers realized that they will have to be driving the next morning. Later on, in the middle of the night, one of the rally organizers got a call from Jack from “Are We Nearly There Yet”: his girlfriend didn’t return to the hotel they were staying in. Thankfully, a quick shout-out was made in the Classic Run’s Facebook Group and the situation was quickly resolved.

 
Day 2 started bright and sunny with a lot of excitement, when the teams showed up in their cool costumes. There were some Scotsmen, Pirates, Vikings in helmets, Princesses in crowns and the best of all: Team Duyfken from Australia. They came in identical motoring sport suits, with uniform helmets and bike goggles.

The flag off was done by the charity organization Round Table of India, and the Classic Run 2016 hit the road! The day went without many distress calls, but the evening was very busy for the Chennai Garage crew. Team 3 lost their front tyres and crashed into the side of the road. Luckily, they didn’t topple, but unfortunately, one of the team members, Rob, got hurt badly. The support crew took them to the Pondicherry Hospital, where it turned out that Rob doesn’t have any serious injuries. The team declared that they’d go on. The organizers got a break down call from Team 10 – the Chennai Garage people met them at 7 p.m. in the evening and fixed the problem. They were more than 70 km away from the destination, so they reached the base hotel at 10 p.m. The rest of the teams have done well, with all of them completing the tasks given by us. The old fort at Alambari provided everyone with a great opportunity to make new profile pictures.

The school visit on Day 3 was cancelled, because the school was closed for the holidays. Even though the teams were sombre because of this, they quickly recovered for the flag off, which was captured by local media. The road to Thanjavur was battered badly by the recent rains, and all the teams arrived late, except for Team 3, which managed to make the flag off time. The day wasn’t easy for Team 13; Jack panicked at Vaideeshwaran Koil and he was eventually helped by the locals, who helped him get medication in the government hospital The Travel Scientists staff picked them up and drove them to the hotel in Thanjavur. All the teams brought with them exciting stories from the road, the funniest being the story of Team 3, which got Rs. 3000 from a local who wanted to take their pictures. Only three teams finished their run before the flag down time: Team 1, Team 8 and Team 11. The night in Thanjavur turned out to be one filled with party; many teams gathered in a room and kept the hotel awake and active until 2 in the morning.

Day 4 started with a lot of adventure and became a paparazzi morning, since the local media came to make interviews, photos and videos with the teams. Once the media talked to them, our teams left for the day.
More updates will arrive soon, so check back with us in a few days!