1,000,001 Thank you’s

So now it is all over there is nothing much left to say; but perhaps it is worthwhile to contemplate just what made this event happen, why and who the charity has to thank.

Southend on Sea had to replace it’s lifeboat after many years of service. The Thames Estuary is one of the busiest inland shipping areas in the South of England, being the gateway to London and the many industries that operate on the banks of the Thames. Modern technology has developed the inflatable ribbed power boat and this type of craft is perfect to react quickly to distress calls in the Thames Estuary because it can be launched in shallow water and cover distances quickly. These attributes could be deciding factors between life and death for those in distressed circumstances.

The cost of purchasing a lifeboat is £25000 and as there is no government funding to support the purchase of this equipment. The OrangeAid appeal was launched to achieve this objective. The appeal comprised of a series of events to be held across the county over the weekend commencing 3^rd June 2005, involving the public and co-ordinated by Essex masons. Provided all events took place and were not “rained off” the target would be achieved. Any surplus funds raised will be used to assist Clacton region to replace their aged Atlantic 75 boat. Donations can be made to OrangeAid or direct to a special numbered account with the RNLI.

The Old Kings Head (OKH) and The White Hart, Margareting Tye Common have a track record of supporting many worthy causes whether it be local registered charities or individuals in need. It was not surprising that both pubs agreed to join forces to see how quickly a score of 1,000,001 could be achieved.

Many of the sponsors who parted with their money in support of this “Dartathon” wondered what the challenge was all about and why no one was running a marathon, cycling to Brighton or donning trunks to go swimming. None seemed to think this was a particularly physical challenge.

Ask the players that stayed the course and they will tell you of the effects of lack of sleep, cramp in the leg, aching knees, sore feet from walking to the board and back, and biceps overworked to such an extent it was almost impossible to lift the arm to throw a dart. Even some of the fittest participants and younger dart players began to realise that this was not a simple task and that youth would not necessarily be the deciding factor to surviving what proved to be a very surprising endurance test. Indeed, some individuals who thought they would sail through the event were only too pleased to take advantage of the bedding facilities offered by Russell Davies. Mental fitness proved to be the deciding factor and it is fair to say that no participant has yet said they would leap at the prospect of supporting a similar event in the future.

The event kicked off at 9.30pm Friday 3^rd June 2005 sharp and finished at 9.25pm 4th June 2005 after a 25 minute delay for checking scores, closing down two boards and organising the players to score the last 7897 points to complete the challenge. As is the case with most dart matches the score had to be completed by finishing on a double. Actual dart throwing time took approximately 24 hours. It was fitting that Russell Davies threw the finishing dart as the event was taking place in his pub.

It would be remiss not to mention some of the people who made out standing contributions that made the event possible and without whose assistance would have meant the challenge probably would have run another 24 hours:-

John Prynn and Les Fuller who organised the score sheet system which worked so well.

John Prynn and Graham ( aka Knuckles) who sat through the night until late in the day writing out the scores and adding up the score sheets.

Ray Keltiy who scored until the early hours of Saturday morning

Jeanette who took over from Ray at 2 am to score until 11 am.

Judy who “manned” the bar from 11pm Friday to midday Saturday, made the tea and coffee when asked and remained chirpy when everyone else was beginning to flag.

Russell Davies who provided a wealth of sandwiches and snacks that kept everyone going.

Phoenix Dive Club who steadfastly kept the third board going without anyone giving them a break.

Andy Lox who, on attempting to finish a shot out, just missed the double and left double one, commonly known as “mad house”.

All the dart players who popped in to keep the scores going or responded to a plea for help, when the number of dart players fell below a level that meant not all the boards might not be in use.

And all those individuals who assisted with compiling the score sheets or came to give moral support to the players.

Without help or encouragement from any of the above the challenge would not have been completed. A 1,000,001 thank you’s to them all.

The following players scored 180. The number of times they achieved this is shown in brackets:-

John Keesing (4)
Andy Lox (3)
Ian T (2)
Alison (1)
Tim Farmer (1)
CR of  Phoenix Divers (1)
Trevor Sumption (1)

The following numbers of scores over 100 were thrown:-

100 to 119 = 699
120 to 139 = 236
140 to 159 = 110
160 to 179 =   3
180            = 13

The following useless trivia may be of interest:-

Number of throws at the dart boards = 21298
Number of darts thrown = 63894
Average score = 46.95

Total distance walked to the dart board and back = 63 miles 47 yards 3 inches.

More trivia about what was consumed by the participants (not individually!):-

80 cups of tea and coffee
8 kilos of tortilla chips
8 kilos of prawn crackers
48 packets of cheese and onion crisps
30 loaves of bread
40 rashers of bacon
40 sausages
20 eggs
6 kilos of ham
6 kilos of cheese
200 sausage rolls

And, finally, some of the more curious comments made during the challenge.

“Trevor wake up!”  “Sorry was I asleep?”

“I have been locked up in this pub for 24 hours. How have I managed to spend £40?”

“What time does the pub open?”

On Andy Lox leaving double one at 9.15pm Saturday night:-

“Oh great we will be up all night trying to get this”

On completion of the challenge:-

“How about a game of 501”

“Thank god. I can fall down and have a drink now”

“I’m tempted to throw myself off Southend Pier to make sure they bought the boat.”

Approximately £2500 is estimated to have been raised from this event which has been acknowledged as being one of the most difficult challenges that took place during this fund raising weekend.

Thank you