With the 2020 & 2021 events being postponed due to COVID, it was an emotional return to Hornchurch Country Park for the 2022 Spitfire Scramble. We entered four teams but made no attempt to defend our mixed teams title from 2019, preferring instead to equalise our teams with the sole intention of enjoying ourselves.  

And enjoy ourselves we did!  Gathering in our usual spot from Friday afternoon, we set up camp for the weekend.  A mix of old hands, newbies, and even two of our VPH “friendly rivals” helped create a great atmosphere, and it wasn’t long before everyone was into the swing of things. The hot weather made for tough running, but was wonderful in between times. Life doesn’t get much better than sitting around in the sun with your friends, yelling “Up The Manor” whenever your team mates run past.  

Day turns into night, and night turns into morning, and our weary (i.e. hungover) teams continue to run laps as the sun comes up and the temperature rises. Everyone starts to question why they do this, but the answer is evident as the cheers get louder the closer we get to the end. The brave souls on the final leg get such good support, and everyone finishes on a high.

Our four teams finished in 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th overall. Out of 34 teams that isn’t bad at all, considering we weren’t trying to win!

Congratulations also to our Maud Hodson who triumphed in the mixed doubles with her ELR friend Nat Dye.  22 laps (126 miles!) between them over the 24 hours, well done indeed!

Here is a link to the results:

https://www.chipresults.co.uk/endurance/index.aspx?cat=8X&eventId=45