UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

 Well, it’s taken me two weeks to finally manage to sit down and talk openly about events on the 3 June at Goodwood, such is my dismay.It’s only fair that someone tells the facts of the events on the day so everyone really understands what happened and why.

 It was a lovely day at Goodwood, which was handy because it was rotten everywhere else and a large crowd of supporters had turned out in good spirits to cheer the event along. 9 teams had made the effort to participate, all bringing with them a substantial amount of sponsorship too and all pumped up ready to pull J 

 From the outset, theBIGteam only had 1 aim and that was to win. As you’ll know from what I previously wrote below, our 24/7 training camp had been set up 18 months before in preparation for the big day and the team was selected from a huge pool of 34,537 applicants, many of which are still missing, and no, Simon Hocquard still hasn’t been spotted.

 On the day, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned for several reasons. Firstly, theBIGteam’s Big Bus had a big breakdown so had to be pushed for the last 17 miles. Despite the fact that some of the guys had been working that morning, they didn’t mind too much as they hadn’t trained for at least 4 hours so they saw the positive side. The fact that some wag kept flushing the toilet coming up the M27 hill approaching Junction 11 didn’t help traction too much so we didn’t arrive in time to see the start of the event. However, we did see those beautiful HR girls getting themselves all worked up so any tribulations were soon forgotten.

 It was clear that some teams had given some thought to their tactics on the day, even if they didn’t necessarily put them into practice; yet, despite this, there were many competitive times put forward and a genuine feeling of exertion reverberated around the pit-lane. It was a tough event and everyone was giving it their all.

By the time theBIGteam came to take their turn, everyone else had pulled, so we knew what we had to beat. The first leg of the pull was competitive, with the team setting the second fastest time of the day, despite having already hauled their 132 seat luxury coach for 24 miles previously. 

 http://youtu.be/NAk5qXuRv54

It was then time to uncage the animals. (Earlier in the afternoon as the team were disembarking from their coach, an elderly dear had got a little close pushing her shopping trolley and before she knew it, she’d done 2 laps of the circuit before someone told Paul and Ant that when we said pulling an old bird, we’d meant the Harvard. They were feeling a little peaky after their bus ride so (hopefully) no real harm done).

The second leg started like a dream and our boys were easily the quickest by a substantial amount, until a freak accident occurred. They were pulling the plane so fast that, despite the best efforts of the driver, the plane started to lift. Obviously the guys weren’t expecting this so it took a few seconds to compute. During this time Andrea had started flapping his arms in an attempt to get extra traction, whilst Martin and big Scott started to get their passports out. Luckily, we had the support of our team Mascot Vicki up front who easily managed to bring the guys back down to earth with a bump by threatening to face the front again.

Unfortunately, a ripple had started spreading its way through the team at this point and, just 5 metres before the line, Big Ant, our helmsman, lost his footing and fell over like Bambi at the roller disco. He (and the plane) came to a stop just 1metre from the line.

 For those that asked, here's the link to the video footage.

 http://youtu.be/1QIJzNNRSeY

There’s a widely held belief that had the plane not stopped, we’d have crushed the winning time and walked away winners. There’s also a widely held belief that had the plane not stopped, it would have crushed Ant’s leg too, but, being open and honest, no one had really thought about that and, given the choice, think we’d all have preferred for the plane to carry on. Ant hates losing so he probably agrees. There was a lot of blood and skin and bone dust flying around which seemed to linger forever whilst the jury were out considering the options. The complimentary cake was a welcome distraction at this point. Eventually, the devastating news came back that we’d have to pull the second leg again. Our helmsman was out with 85% knee grazing (apparently very few survive 90%+) so we had to select another and try and win it again. (oh yes, I forgot to say – at the point the plane came to a halt, theBIGteam were over 5 seconds up on the winning time. We were easily the quickest on the day, but unfortunately the time was considered to be non-conformant so we had to go again). Having given everything to their first performance, there was very little left in the tanks, especially as they had to push their 154 seat luxury coach home aswell. Despite this, our guys got up and pulled the plane again and were only 0.4 seconds slower than the winning time in the end; quite a remarkable achievement overall and a real credit to the team and all in AC that they were representing.

We are gutted that we didn’t win, especially in the manner with which it occurred, but TC were happy to take anything that was offered and walked away with the prize. We don’t mind this, we knew we were the quickest and TC are welcome to come back and have another go at any point in the future, as long as they invite the HR girls.

Seriously though, theBIGteam would like to say a great BIG thankyou to Paul and Chris and all who helped for their monumental effort in getting this to happen. It was a lot of fun for a very worthwhile cause.

Also, we’d like to say a huge thankyou to all those that showed an interest and sponsored us. You spurred us on to do well and you helped us raise a huge target.

If the update has tugged at your heart-strings a little more, then please don't feel guilty about donating again, we're still open for collections :-) 

THANKYOU       THANKYOU      THANKYOU

Thanks for taking the time to visit our Just Giving page.

The BIG team will be competing in “The Big Pull” which will see 10 teams pull a Harvard aircraft as quickly as possible along on the famous Goodwood Straight on Sunday 3rd June. The team completing the course the fastest will be the winner. Details here 

http://www.thebigpull.co.uk/The_Big_Pull/The_Big_Weekend.html

The BIG Team hope to raise over £1000 for Aerobility which is an amazing charity that enables disabled and profoundly ill adults and children, including Armed forces veterans, to fly a plane. Aerobility provides 'experience of a lifetime' trial flying lessons for as many terminally ill and disabled people as possible every year.   Aerobility have seen that these individuals can then begin to build on their abilities and achieve greater wellbeing and independence.

 The BIG team have been assembled through sheer grit and determination from a hardcore breakaway faction of the AC Ops Room at Swanwick. Only 11 winners were selected from 22435 applicants. Many of the losers were bagged up and dragged along in sacks at our frequent training events, most haven't been seen since (yes, we believe Simon Hocquard was an applicant).The BIG team are only here to win and we need your help.

Not only will we pull the Harvard (no 747's were available, we checked) the fastest, we might not stop. We might just keep on going until we've had enough, but please, don't talk to us while we're preparing or performing, it's possible someone may get eaten in the ensuing confusion. We don't want that.

Shout at us, swear at us, give us a medium slap, but most of all, sponsor us; it's the only reason we're doing this. We want to raise as much as possible, at least more than any of the other teams. Please give us your support by donating. Help us win some more.

You can donate by text, online, via paypal, credit card or even plain old Ayrton's. If you'd prefer some company, we can arrange for a couple of our administration team to pop in and see you, help you open your purse or carry you to the cashpoint. We don't mind, as long as you donate.

One last thing. This team isn't your usual bunch of fundraising do-gooders. The only reason they're here is to get a sniff at winning. They will make you proud and they will appreciate your support. For the right price they'll do a few other bits too. So, on the basis they haven't asked before and you may never see them perform again, please support, us, please donate, please help us win.

FOR EASY SPONSORSHIP

 TEXT BGER62 AND YOUR AMOUNT TO 70070

eg BGER62 £20 to 70070