Amersham overrun by pumpkins

On Saturday 21st February 2015, the Recreational Clubs Committee held its annual Night Hike, a team orienteering-style competition held at night in the countryside around London, open to all students, staff and alumnus of Imperial. This year the competition returned to its original base of Amersham, Buckinghamshire and with a record 44 teams and 151 competitors, it was set to be a night to remember!

At 17:15, the RCC Exec set off from London with much moaning from Stephen about how the minibuses were so much worse to drive than a vintage fire engine…

The team arrived at the base in Amersham at around 6, to set up the registration and start desks and unload 150 people’s worth of food for breakfast from the minibus! The night was very cold, with a clear starry sky, which meant the added benefit of a bright moon. At 19:00 the first teams began to arrive at the hall, ready to venture out into the night…

The competition starts when the teams are given their map: they then have 6 hours to gain as many points as possible by visiting checkpoints worth varying numbers of points. The checkpoints take the form of questions, adding an extra difficulty of trying to find a specific answer in the dark! The first team out were The Nocturnals at 19.36. From then on there was a steady flow of teams arriving and leaving. At 11.30 the last team left and we were all able to grab an hour’s sleep.

Despite a few mishaps with blisters and low blood sugar involving minibus pick-ups, all teams completed the 6 hours and arrived back at the hall between 01:00 and 0515, a little cold and tired but all thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Most teams tried to settle down and sleep a little in the hall but by the time the last few times had arrived back conditions were quite cramped!

At 05:00 the organising team began the mighty task of cooking breakfast for 150 people. This involved scrambling 300 eggs, cooking over 200 slices of bacon and trying not to burn 60 tins of beans to the bottom of the pan. Plus the added pressure of 150 people getting more and more impatient at the smell of food! And that’s before the even more mighty task of the washing up.

After breakfast the last item on the agenda was the prizegiving, the most exciting part of the night!

First up was the best team name and most checkpoints visited, which were won by Hike Milligan and The Perpetual Motion Squad respectively.

Next up was the best fancy dress. Runners up were Matt’s Bitcheeez but the prize of £20, trophy and chocolates went to The Spookies with ‘spooky’ pumpkin costumes including hats!

Next up was the prize for the winning team in the running category, which was taken by team ‘You think you know it all, but you just don’t’ who beat Cunning Stunts to first place. They won the £40 prize and trophy with an impressive 2150 points, the highest score of the night!

Finally was the hotly contested prize for the winning walking team. In third place was ‘Frolicking naked through a field’ with 1200 points. Second place went to ‘the Rangers’ with 1690 points. But THE first place £40 and trophy went to Clive’s Bicycle Repairs with a staggering 1860 points!

Overall all the teams had a great time!

Particular thanks must go to Richard, Stephen, Ellen and Jack who helped with the manned checkpoint, registration, driving and breakfast – thanks!