No Toilet Seat for our team!
On Saturday afternoon, three Caythorpe Scouts met at Sturton le Steeple Community Centre along with c.280 other Scouts, Explorers and volunteer leaders to take part in the infamous ‘Rabbit Run’ event, expertly organised by the EGXS team.
Billed as ‘a cross between a night hike and a wide game’, teams of ‘Rabbits’ head out into the countryside and try to answer as many questions as possible on the way, while avoiding being caught by the ‘Poachers’.
Because we didn’t have enough Scouts attending (Rabbits have to be at least 13 years old), we’d teamed up with Scouts from 2nd Grantham in advance. This meant that our team of seven had to get to know each other and make friends – fundamental to Scouting!
After a flurry of activity which included everyone on site joining the event WhatsApp community (a perfect communication tool), all leaders and participants signing in and registering their team, and of course a burning desire to visit the merchandise area and buy event hoodies and neckers, it was time to get on to the serious business of the event.
Once our tents were up and bedding laid out, we joined everyone else at the event briefing. The Event Team ran through a very thorough safety briefing, rules of the event, and of course a reminder about behaviour (after all, local villages were due to have a couple of hundred Scouts hiking through, late at night, and we didn’t want to wake up, upset or offend anyone).
Then it was on to the route planning. The team was given a list of questions and grid references. They had to visit the grid reference locations to answer the questions, with different questions carrying different scores. Strategy would be key. As would hiding from the Poachers, who were playing the same game in parallel with the sole purpose of catching Rabbits!
After a very filling dinner (at 17:16) of hog roast, sides and an absolutely amazing crumble and custard, it was time to get ready, have a final kit check and hit the road.
Our team, team 9, known as ‘UK sponsored by Lidl’, had a kit check time of 19:31 and a start time of 19:46. They had five and a half hours (as did every team) to complete the event, with a return time of 01:16. Being early or late back would mean a points deduction. The timing of every aspect of this event was organised (and adhered to) with military precision.
By 21:40 our Scouts had earned 5 points. By 23:40 they were on 10 points, had not yet been caught by Poachers and had answered all their questions correctly.
Our courageous and tired team arrived back on site on time at 01:13 meaning they earned five bonus points for a punctual return, on top of 18 points for correct answers but carried a four point deduction for the two times they were caught by Poachers.
After five minutes in the hall, our Rabbits hopped off to bed, while the leaders waited up for a couple of the Grantham Explorer teams to return. At 2am.
Luckily, the organising team had anticipated in advance that Scouts, Explorers and leaders would not be wanting an early breakfast, so service began at a very acceptable 09:30. It was one of the best camp breakfasts on record, with a full fry-up for everyone who wanted one and alternative delicious options for those who didn’t.
Once tents were down and kit packed away, everyone got together again for a presentation ceremony where the winners of the event, 'Callum's Crunchy Carrots', were awarded the prestigious Rabbit Run Trophy while the team with the lowest score received the toilet seat!
‘UK sponsored by Lidl’ came an incredibly respectable 21st out of 34 teams (one team was disqualified for a late return), which, given they were a young team of Scouts (only a couple had done the event before, and a lot of the teams were older Explorers), they should be incredibly proud of!
Once all the formalities were complete, we all said our goodbyes and bundled our kit and some very tired Rabbits into cars and headed back to the A1 and home. And, just as we did that, the heavens opened!
To see more information and photos from the event organisers, click here:
https://www.facebook.com/LincolnshireScoutsRabbitRun/?locale=en_GB
