MAC 4×4 UK CHALLENGE 2008

25/03/2008 by SimonG.

INTRODUCTION.
The Macmillan 4×4 UK Challenge 2008 became a reality for Brian Elliott and Kevin Bradley when we managed to secure an entry on this very over-subscribed event in April 2007. We were lucky, within two weeks the entry list was full with sixty crews wanting to take part!
The objective of the Mac4×4 Event is to provide an interesting ‘Challenge’ for 4×4 owners/addicts/enthusiasts over a weekend ‘somewhere’ in the UK, whilst supporting a worthy charity. Teams are asked to raise at least £600.
The proceeds of the Mac4×4 Event - which depends largely on sponsorship which teams can raise - goes to Macmillan Cancer Support, the country’s major charity devoted to the treatment and care of people with cancer and their families. It supports Macmillan’s continuing efforts to provide better support services through the well known Macmillan Nurses, Doctors, buildings and patient grants.
With this very worthwhile cause in mind ‘Team Seven’ – our start number – began to formulate a plan that would ensure that the organisers target could be met….and we set a person goal of £1500.
We approached our off road club – Viking Four Wheel Drive Club – to see if they would be willing to contribute to the team. They did, with a fantastic offer of £300 which prompted us to change the team name……VIKING TEAM SEVEN.
We then started to approach companies and individuals for sponsorship, organising a barbeque, a pub quiz, and probably most embarrassing of all, dyeing our hair for three weeks various vivid colours.
The company we both work for – Caterpillar UK – came up with an astonishing proposal to match any funding we raised. This meant that our efforts before Christmas had guaranteed the bench mark £600, and put us well on to our personal goal of £1500.
The following months saw us both working hard for sponsorship, using ‘our’ donation website – www.justgiving.com/teamseven - as promotion.
We are very grateful to all who have contributed to this very worth while cause.

PREPARATION.
The vehicle we would be using was Brian’s Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi Commercial, a very capable 4×4 as seen competing on the club trials, but there was a need to ensure that it was totally reliable for the forth coming ‘secret’ 1000 mile event.
The organisers had asked us to obtain Ordnance Survey Map 125 – Bala & Lake Vyrnwy.
So it was off to Wales then!
To accommodate my needs as a navigator, Brian wired in extra 12v ‘cigarette sockets’ and a flexible map light. This, along with my ‘potti’ would enable me to plot and read the roads in the dark.
A hand held portable spot light was constructed to help with ‘code board spotting’ and doubled up as a rear flood light in the back to help when we needed to see what we were cooking. Brian fitted his CB which completed the interior preparation.
The exterior modifications included a new snorkel, roof bar and lights and modifying the Bull bar to make it quickly detachable. Added to this was a pair of genuine ‘Land Rover’ spot lights.
The engine was treated to a service and a larger ‘full width’ intercooler fitted. Rear brake callipers’ were renewed, a swivel seal fitted, breathers extended and with the anti roll bars removed, P271 VWR was ready for action.
DAY ONE – FRIDAY 7th MARCH 2008. (England and Wales)
We decided that the drive to the start at Britpart’s HQ, The Grove, Craven Arms in Shropshire would take a couple of hours and as our booking in time was 10.07hrs we left NW Leicestershire at 07.30hrs for an uneventful journey down the M42/M6/M54. The motorways were busy, but luckily for us, all the traffic was backed up on the opposite carriageways!!
We arrived in plenty of time and parked in our allocated parking area awaiting scrutineering.
Other competitors started to arrive in various 4×4’s, some highly prepared for this type of event, whilst others looked to have come straight out of the showroom!
Scrutineering consisted of general check over of the vehicle and we were reminded that during road sections we should only use our vehicle lights, not the additional roof mounted units.
Signing on was a breeze, documentation was given out in the form of a Britpart Catalogue (more about that later), various sponsors decals and instructions to be at the drivers briefing at 13.00 hrs.
That all accomplished, we took our time and put the decals on, stashed the ‘Britpart’ goodies in the back and went to socialise for a couple of hours.
All this spare time on our hands allowed us to ‘suss out’ the competition and admire the wide range of competing vehicles as well seek a little advice on what to expect. A quick cup of tea and the drivers briefing time was upon us.
We all gathered around one of the Ford supplied Wildtrak 3.0TDCi Support Vehicles and were introduced to the Clerk of the Course, Selwyn Kendrick. The briefing gave nothing away as to where we were going, or what to expect, we were only asked to ensure that our vehicles were waterproofed!!
Our first section would start in the Britpart compound, and involved an impromptu off road section where we were to make note of the code boards around the course.
Given a start time of 14.07hrs, we turned left out of the car park, and straight into the off road section which consisted of a set route over man made mounds which were quite steep. The most daunting aspect of this was the fact that we were not allowed to walk the section, something both Brian and I are used to in trialling.
Code board information collected, our next instructions were a set of written directions, taking us north towards Church Stretton. Along this drive we were expected to answer questions all found in the Britpart catalogue – which was somewhere in the back of the Disco! Hastily retrieved, I managed to answer the questions and navigate Brian to section two.
Section two started at Little Stretton and crossed the National Trust Land of ‘The Long Mynd’. Based on tulip diagrams and mileages we followed the road, climbing up around the hillsides and were reminded in the road book that there would be ‘no recovery from the right’. As we continued to climb, this became apparent as there was nothing on the right just a very steep sheer drop to the bottom of the valley!!
Dodging the sheep and mindful of the very narrow roads we collected answers to questions over the next 23 miles of route, taking in some stunning scenery along the way.
Once completed, we booked in at the section finish and given the route, in the form of a photo-copied O/S map, for the next section.
Starting east of the ‘infamous’ Ceri Forest, we took a route that included minor roads, ‘green lanes’ and finally entering the Forestry Land in search of code boards - in the shape of small number plates containing two letters or numbers.
Once in the forest and on the smooth graded roads we discovered the plates on either side of the road, below, at and above eye level. The organisers were devious in their positioning and it required both team members to be alert.
Although in places the track became quite muddy, we encountered no driving problems as we travelled through and finally out of the forest and north east through the village of Sarn and finished the 26 mile section.
On submitting our answers, the organisers gave the team a hand out that instructed us to head through Montgomery, Buttington, Oswestry and meet at the Gledrid Services at 18.30hrs plus our start time for a regroup and further instructions.
This accomplished, the arrival at the services held a surprise.
We were told we were booked on the Saturday morning ferry leaving Holyhead at 08.55 for Dun Laoghaire in Eire, and return on the 22.10 ferry from Belfast to Stranraer.
So this is what Selwyn meant by ensuring our vehicles were waterproofed!!
But before that we had two further sections to complete.
The first being a ‘plot and bash’ route given out as a series of ten figure map references and compass points to be plotted accurately on O/S map 125. This route started at Glyndyfrdwy, headed south on ‘white’ roads to Llanarmon Dyffry Ceiriog and then onto some very narrow roads to LLanrhaeadr-ym Mochnant.
Classic Welsh road rally roads!!
From there it went into the Tant Valley, through the forest and turned north to LLandrillo before heading west to Bala. Along the 38 mile route we had to collect answers to questions.
We were given a set time to meet at Bala for another regroup and had to ‘cut’ the last northerly loop of about six miles to arrive in time.
Big mistake.
Along with a number of other crews who joined us at Bala, we were told by the organisers that the time ‘penalties’ would not be imposed for that section but could we go to Bala 4×4 Centre just outside of town.
Once there, we handed in our question sheet, and given another on, this time with room to record the code boards that were to be found on a route laid out at the Bala 4×4 course.
The course was amazing. With all the lights blazing we set about hunting for code boards, whilst trying to drive the steep, slippery surfaces….and all this at half past midnight!
Fantastic.
The car behaved impeccably and we both enjoyed ourselves tremendously, despite the initial trepidation of once again driving ‘blind’. Some 30 minutes later, we handed in our score sheets and were given written instructions for the 60 mile drive to Holyhead and the ferry port.
We arrived with no troubles at all and joined the large 4×4 queue to get our head down in the car for a couple of hours.
DAY TWO – SATURDAY 8th MARCH 2008. (Eire & Northern Ireland)
On boarding the ferry we were given our first set of instructions for the day which included directions out of Dun Laoghaire harbour, onto the M50 and to our section start at Naul. The second part of the instructions contained thirty map references and compass bearings. These were to be plotted whilst on the ferry, and with this in mind we parked up pronto and grabbed a table for the crossing. With Brian reading out the references, I managed to plot them all and work out the route on the supplied map in about 15 minutes.
It became apparent that the boat was filing rapidly with Welsh rugby fans travelling to Ireland for the big match and one enterprising team went round with a Macmillan bucket collecting donations. Why didn’t we think of that?
The crossing itself was a little unsteady and we sat watching the Welsh fans carrying trays of beer back to their seats – drinking time must start early for the Welsh….it was only 09.00hrs. Having scrounged some Euros for the Motorway toll, we both relaxed to wait our arrival in Eire.
Docking at 10.40, all sixty crews jumped into the vehicles and headed through the town and onto Naul.
The section to be driven contained answers along the way to questions handed out previously, so just south of Dublin Airport we started looking for our clues. The route took us due north on the R108 before turning off on some very narrow roads east through Skidoo, Wimbltown and rejoining the R road at Hollywood Great. Some fascinating names for the villages we passed through, and plenty of scope for the devious organisers to catch us out.
We headed North West toward Ardcath and then to Daleek where 60 4×4’s drove round the tiny village looking for clues….and the way out!!
There were some nine junctions within 100m of each other and the map information left something to be desired. One innovative crew (from the Armed Forces) sat and watched all the confusion from a pub car park, managing a couple of pints, before latching onto the convoy once it had found its way out!!
It looked like some thing from an old comedy sketch, but with no harm done, we all headed north to the Bru na Boinne Centre at Newgrange for the section finish in the car park. We felt we had done fairly well on this section, and handing in answer sheet was congratulated by the marshals.
After a short rest, more instructions were given out, the transport section from Newgrange to Drumconrath, where we were told to be by 18.30hrs - via another 35 map references.
Once on our way it became apparent we would now be heading into Northern Ireland.
From the section start in Droim Conach, we had to answer 25 questions along the route which took us down some very minor roads heading north east through Dun an Ri (Kingscourt), and through the villages of Doagh, Lisdrumturk and Garrickadooey.
Following a generally northern route on minor roads we passed Beal Atha Beithe and ended the 70km section north of Monaghan at Emyvale.
At the control, we handed in our answers and given instructions to regroup at Todd’s Leap, Northern Irelands most famous off road centre in Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone.
Todd’s Leap is set in 100 acres of woodland and we had to drive a given route, collecting ‘clean’ clues in the form of objects placed around the course.
Once again, it felt strange not being able to walk the course before we started.
The route was very steep, and muddy.
With all lights blazing (it was dusk) we started looking for clues. The vehicle surprised us by taking the very long steep climbs and descents with no effort at all. At one point our lights were no use at all as we had reached the very top of a hill that immediately descended steeply.
Fantastic.
Contending with very tight turns in thick mud and some wicked slide slopes we finished the section having collected all the clues after about 30 minutes in 1st gear low box.
We both agreed it was an experience not to be missed and can heartily recommend the site to anybody.
We would have loved to stop and have another play but we had the 22.10 ferry to catch from Belfast to Stranraer so following instructions we drove the 40km or so to Belfast and the Stena-Line Terminal. Once there we had a little spare time, so out came all the cookers and very soon the smell of frying bacon (and one crew even warmed up a great pan of curry) and sausage mixed with the salty sea air.
The crossing was very smooth; we just about had the HSS Fastcraft to ourselves, and most crews grateful of the couple of hours rest. We had been instructed as we boarded that we had to be in Lockerbie at the Queens Hotel for 09.00hrs on Sunday. This meant a 75 mile journey once we had docked. Like most of the other competitors, we decided to do this once in Scotland and aim to catch a couple of hours sleep in the hotel car park!
DAY THREE – SUNDAY 9th MARCH 2008. (Scotland & England)
The next link seemed easy; follow the M75 from Stranraer to Lockerbie and some sleep, however first of all we had to get out of the docks. What a nightmare! In the end it took an official dock worker to open up some gates and let us all free!
The drive took about 2 hours, and once in the hotel car park (which was then full of tents!) we got our heads down.
Morning dawned, and Brian managed to blag a free coffee off the night staff before enjoying a full English breakfast.
After much socialising we were told that there would be a drivers briefing at 09.00hrs before being given our start time for the one section in Scotland. Selwyn informed us all that the days driving would be somewhat less frantic and we were given our instructions in the form of twenty-seven ten figure map references, the difference being that this time we had to answer questions at certain of these points, which should make things a little easier! Also included was a forest section with more code boards!
The route ran due north from Lockerbie along the B723 before turning NE along some narrow ‘yellow roads’ towards Boreland and then entering the famous rally stage at Castle O’er Forest. The graded forest tracks were very smooth, and looked as if they could have been driven extremely fast in different circumstances!
We headed firstly south then north searching for the code boards before leaving the forest via an extremely tight hairpin right, onto the minor road towards Castle O’er hamlet and some stunning scenery, collecting answers along the way.
Stopping to take photos, we headed SE through Bentpath and Burnfoot, finally meeting the A7 and turning due south.
Just before Langholm, we turned off East along one of the most stunning narrow roads in Scotland passing Middlemass Head, Perter Rigg, Stanygill Rig before dropping into the Scottish Border town of Newcastleton and the finish of the competitive event at the Liddesdale Hotel.
This last section had been so relaxed that many of the competitors had stopped for photographs along its beautiful route! What camaraderie!
We handed in our score sheet in the bar, and was told all that remained to do was to drive south, via the A7, M6 and M56 and onto the Daresbury Park Hotel in Cheshire, where we had a room booked, and where the prize presentation and dinner would take place later that night.
We decided to head south almost immediately to try and grab a couple of hours kip before the festivities began.
I’m ashamed to say that once on the motorway I fell asleep so Brian was ‘on his own’ for a little but believe me, I was knackered!
At the hotel we were met by Peter Rowland, the secretary of the meeting, who congratulated us, asking if we had enjoyed it and explaining what would be happening later in the evening.
Once booked in we needed a shower, god did we need a shower and we rested before hitting the bar and sitting down to a lovely meal and awaited the prize presentations.
The organisers reminded us why we were really there and predicted that the monies raised so far had beaten the second highest total and hopefully when all the money was in it would be somewhere in the region of last years amazing total of £108,000.
Various trophies were presented by Total Off Road Magazines’ Emily Gravenor, including one for the highest sponsorship raised by an individual team (£12,000) and the First Over All trophy to Team 27.
Our results…..27th overall (from 60 entries), the scoring started quite slowly but we excelled in Eire and Northern Ireland and finished well in Scotland.
Following the prize presentation there was the famous Mac auction, with numerous items donated to help raise monies for Macmillan. Some of the items fetched amazing bids including an electronic picture frame (£500+), Land Rover teddy bears (£150+) and various others which kept the proceedings going until way past midnight! I gave in to sleep deprivation at about 00.45hrs and headed for some much needed comfy rest.

Next morning, after my first breakfast of the weekend, we booked out and headed south through the Peak District and arriving home at 11.30.

THOUGHTS ON THE EVENT.

Fantastic.

Simple as that.

Totally enjoyable, excellent organisation, clever use of route instructions, exciting off road sections and such a sense of camaraderie and friendship that you never felt left out.
We completed 963 road miles during the weekend, much of it on some very narrow, tight roads with amazing scenery in some of the most beautiful parts of the United Kingdom.

Viking Team Seven like to think we did our best, achieving a good result on the event…..and are looking forward to next year!!

THANKS TO:
Please accept my apologies for repeating the following but the Mac 4×4 event’s main purpose is to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Macmillan is the country’s major charity devoted to the treatment and care of people with cancer and their families, providing support services through the well known Macmillan Nurses, Doctors, buildings and patient grants.
Macmillan Cancer Support provides immediate practical and emotional support, which changes the lives of people affected by cancer.

Team Seven have so far raised over £4000 and want to thank:

Viking Four Wheel Drive Club
Caterpillar (UK)
M&B Spraying
ANB Car Sales
TT Automotive
Hayles Farrar & Partners
Worthington Shoot
Parkers – the Parts People
Ashby Woulds Model Car Club

and all friends, family and work colleagues who donated via www.justgiving.com/teamseven and through personal donations.

To you all, a big, big, thank you for your generosity in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Brian Elliott
Kevin Bradley
Viking Team Seven.

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