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Piccadilly Plodders earn 2nd Place in the 14th International Bed Race

Added: 8th July 2009

Last weekend the Piccadilly Plodders Bed Race Team travelled to Friedrichroda in East Germany to compete in their 14th International Bed Race.
The 1600 miles round journey, in two vehicles, was made all the more worthwhile after finishing in second place!

Simon Watts, Managing Director of Piccadilly Motors commented “The reception we received was fantastic; the people of Friedrichroda were so pleased to have a Knaresborough team entering this year’s event.”

The race itself is over 2.3 kilometres and involves several activities aside from simply pushing the bed. Firstly two of the team have to cut through a log using a two man crosscut saw. After a further 500 metres the passenger on the bed had to carefully guide a hoop around a wire circuit without setting off a buzzer. Then off again to the next challenge, in which one of the team had to navigate their way through cones on stilt like blocks. And then further along the course to the next challenge, which involved manually pumping water through a fire mans hose, generating enough pressure to blast six filled bottles off a stand. Towards the end of the race the runners had to guide the bed and passenger, at speed, through a gravel based water filled gully and tunnel. At times the water was chest height, very pleasant in temperature reaching 30 degrees, then a fast sprint to the finishing line!

Simon Watts said “The activities added an interesting dimension to the race, all of which we were lucky enough to carry off successfully without losing time; helping us finish the race in a very respectable 10 minutes 40 seconds. The course did include two hills, yet thankfully, not quite as gruelling as Castle Ings! But completing the water filled gully section was possibly more challenging than the crossing of the River Nidd.
In addition to coming second in the race, the Piccadilly Plodders also came third in the category of best fancy dress and, not surprisingly, first for the team that travelled the greatest distance to take part!

Running in both the Great Knaresborough Bed race and the Friedrichroda International Bed Race will hopefully help Piccadilly Motors raise over £5,000.00 for their chosen charity, Candlelighters.

Simon Watts commented “When the Mayor of Friedrichroda invited us back again next year; after enjoying the weekend so much, on behalf of the team, my response was definitely yes! “If any other teams are interesting in taking part next year please contact either Jason Lovell or myself at Piccadilly Motors on Boroughbridge Road, Knaresborough. 

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