Lee and Claire set off for Beer on the Pier at 6am from the Godalming Pepperpot

In True Air Land and Sea style Claire and I thought it would be great to get all our friends to feel part of our last big training run before Trailwalker (now less than 3 weeks away).

Beer on the Pier on the front of the Surrey Advertiser

We came up with the idea of Beer on the Pier. A Wacky races style ‘race’ from The Godalming Pepperpot to the Pier at Brighton. The only rules were that you had to aim to arrive at 3pm …and that you couldn’t use your own car. 

Captain Ken and his team at Blackbushe

We had teams flying , cycling, driving (with bucket stilts at the end) , train 1st Class , Scooter and of course Claire and I running the 50 miles to Brighton from Godalming. 

Rhodri and Phillipa at the Pepperpot for Beer on the Pier

The weather was glorious that day and because of our speed Claire and I set of early at just after 6am from Godalming taking a cross country route through Thornecombe Street and out towards the Downs Link where it goes under the Greensand Way. We then had a straight and level 32 mile blast all the way to the South Downs Way.

Claire running under one of the many bridges on the Downs Link

We had been running for a few hours and our joint twitter account @BeeronPier was fairly quiet until around 9am when most of the cyclists and Amy started their journeys. Due to the heat I had developed some chafing in a personal man area. I tried talc and it made little difference. After a little bit of thinking I decided the best solution was to place a fingerless glove I had down my running tights and so spent the rest of the day in blissful comfort wearing a warm wooly ball jumper. 

James and Felicia at the peppepot for Beer on the Pier

Amy on the first leg (scooter)  of her Beer on the Pier Route

Claire and I got to Christs Hospital at the 21 mile mark around the time Amy had got the train from Guildford to Reigate and was now running to her sisters house for a cup of tea. 

Amy with Dame Margot Fonteyns bronze tits

Meanwhile the cyclists had wisely split into three teams of two to increase their chances of losing.  Rhodri and Phillipa had blasted on ahead because Rhodri makes missiles for a living and had possibly attached some kind of boosters  to their bikes as they shot off at enormous speed. They got a puncture when they broke the sound barrier and Rhodri had to cycle back to a bike shop to buy a new innertube as they had wisely reduced weight to make them faster by not having any repair kit with them.

Lee and Claire try some cycling in Southwater for Beer on the Pier

At Southwater Claire and I had a go with some bikes we found but they werent to our liking. Too fast and whooshy. 

Claire hitches a ride with a train at West Grinstead station on the Downs Link

While Claire and I climbed all over a train that had been abandonded at West Grinstead Station one of the other International cycling teams made up of James (not team GB) and Felicia (not team Canada) were also having some set backs. James had wisely decided to allow Felicia to carry all the kit they would need in her saddlebags (fnar). This freed up James to ride in front (much more difficult) so Felicia had an easier time slipstreaming. Unfortunately after only a few miles Felcia found that 25kgs of beach wear, change of clothes, sun cream, water, beach mat, beach ball, bucket and spade, sun hat, wind break, tent, barbeque, charcoal, case of beer, Pimms, umberella, Camera, Tripod, Lilo, water wings, wetsuits and Surf Board had taken their toll and they stopped at a pub for sleep. This was to be the first of two sleeps they had on the way. 

Lee christens the Beer on the Pier Trophy at the 30 mile mark on the Downs Link at Partridge Green

While the cyclists slept, Claire and I had made amazing time and passed a pub in Partridge Green called the Partridge and decided to have a cheeky half pint of lager and christen the Beer on Pier trophy at the 30 mile mark of our run. 

Amy does her ‘Queen bee’ Smize for Beer on the Pier

Around this time Amy was running to Horley with Bee Boppers on her head to allow bees to waggle dance near her and speed her towards her next destination. The third Cycling team consisting of Luke and Chris were also having trouble somewhere on the Downs Link. Luke was finding that his Bradley Wiggins sideburn tributes were causing major aerodynamic issues and Chris behind him was contending with such buffeting that whole sections of his ‘classic’ bike literally fell off. Luke has luckily seen the film Apollo 13 and used chewing gum and lyrca and parts canibalised off his own bike to mend Chriss. 

Amy is still excited about Beer on the Pier

Amy made it to her sisters house around the time that the Train team started off.  Amy had a cup of tea and caught up on family gossip while teams were all racing to Brighton. 

Warm Champagne and melted fererro rocher – the train team for Beer on the Pier

Meanwhile Steph and the train team complained that the train 1st class carriage was with the hoi polloi, their champagne was slightly warm and the ferrero rocher were slightly melted. It was a shambles. Jon and Aiden agreed and whilst the air con wafted their faces they used the free wi fi to write a stern email to the Beer on the Pier organisers.

Lee Trig Point Planking near Brighton

Somewhere near Stretham manor I took us off the Downs Link for a ‘Shortcut’ that would knock 1.5 miles off our route. It did save us distance but we had to run through a rarely used overgrown path that tripled our time. It was a major Oopsiwahli and I estimate added at least 2 hours to our running time. I could literally imagine mutley the dog wheezing and laughing at our progress as we trampled through it and eventually linked back up with the Downs Link. 

Danger – Ken Flying here

As Claire and I ran over a hill on the Monarchs way we could see a Piper Cherokee fly overhead and turn west towards Shoreham Aerodrome. We had seen Ken fly directly over us. Brilliant. Ken was too busy serving Gin and Tonics to his team to bother to look down and so didnt see us. 

Amy joins us at Southwick station for Beer on the Pier

By this time Amy had made it to Southwick Train Station and met us with a sensible sun hat on to stave off sunstroke. She also had a moustache that Claire and I were too embarrassed to comment on.  Amy was now going to run with us for the last 6 miles along the coast to the Pier. 

Southwick running towards Brighton Pier

Although Brighton is well known for its promenade and Pier few people realise just how scenic and tranquil the Southwick end of the beach is. With its stunning Rubbish Processing Dump and Edgy Steelworks we all agreed that combined with the heat it had a ‘Spain’ feel and smell  to it. 

Brief glances at Twitter showed that the bulk of the participants had made it to the pier. Seb had driven in with his X Men car and was now walking using home made bucket stilts towards the finish. A bevvy of beach babes followed in his wake. 

Lee Amy and Claire running along Brighton Seafront for Beer on the Pier

I thought it would be ‘Epically Brilliant’ to run along the promenade for a few miles to finish…..Take in the views….look at the sea….get an ice cream. What I failed to account for was that it was busy on the promenade. There were about 500,000 people there, and they were all in my way.

I began to get a little bit wobbly and tired as we ran the last few miles. Amy and Claire adopted the classic ‘V Shaped’ security defense set up around me and help me to play human asteroids through the crowds. 

Lee and Claire do a topless Smack on Brighton Seafront for Beer on the Pier

Having got a Trig Point Plank in I was very pleased to get a topless smack in as well . This is now a long standing tradition or an old charter or something.

Lee and Claire finish running 50 miles at Brighton Pier for Beer on the Pier

Finishing was great ! It meant that after 9 hours and 30 minutes we didn’t have to run anymore. We assembled for a beer at the end of the pier and during the celebrations decided that Amy had won on the basis of ‘sportsmanship, complexity of route and methods, costume and teamwork’. She will now hold the Beer on the Pier trophy for one year and be the judge of next years winner. 

All the competitiors for Beer on the Pier in Brighton

As we all made our separate ways home with a nagging doubt that we had forgotten something, and as the crowds continued to enjoy the day,  little did we know it would be a few more hours yet until Felica and James would finally arrive at the Pier. 



Everyone enjoyed the day and we raised more money towards our Trailwalker target from the kind donations from the entrants. We have now raised £350 which is fantastic.  If you havent visited our sponsorship page yet its here 

http://www.justgiving.com/ThreeAndAHalfHashers

We will be doing this again next year….with a twist……. so if you are reading this please help us make this even bigger and better next year.

Our next big run will be Trailwalker on Saturday 27th July. Claire, Dave, Pete and I  have to add 12 more miles to the Beer on the Pier distance.