Friends
Many of you are aware that an endurance run for Standard and Triumph
cars will be taking place in the UK over the weekend of May 6 and 7,
starting and finishing at the Gaydon Heritage Centre. Some of you have
most generously sent me donations towards this run which is entirely
for charity and hopes to raise sufficient funds to train a guide dog
for a registered blind person. The Run itself is some 850 miles in
length and has to be completed in 24 hours.
Just for the sake of sentiment, I have pasted below the verbatim text
of a Press Release being sent out to various local newspapers, radio
and TV stations in advance of the Run. If there are any UK or even
European listers who would like to sign up at this rather late stage
(there's no entry fee), would they please contact me off-list? For
the rest of you, who can't be there because too much water separates
us, we'll be taking all of you with us in spirit!
Hopefully, and with the co-operation of the Editor of "The English
Channel" (nudge nudge hint hint) - a write-up of the event as seen
through the windscreen of a TR3A (by two old lags who are well old
enough and ought to know better) will appear in due course. I am
reliably informed by the wife of my co-driver that some extensive
dieting is taking place so that the poor old f**t can get his stomach
behind the steering wheel.
Jonmac
PRESS RELEASE
April 10, 2000
THE TEN CATHEDRALS RUN
An endurance run for Charity featuring Standard and Triumph cars will
take place over the weekend of May 6 and 7, 2000. Starting and
finishing at The Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, near Warwick at
11.30am, the participating cars will spend the next 24 hours
completing a circular route of some 850 miles in length. They will
pass through the following cities in this order - COVENTRY, LINCOLN,
NORWICH, CANTERBURY, CHICHESTER, WINCHESTER, SALISBURY, EXETER, WELLS
and HEREFORD - before returning to the finish at Gaydon from midday
onwards on May 7.
Each of the cars taking part is seeking sponsorship to jointly raise
sufficient funds to train a Guide Dog for the later use of a
registered blind person. The target is £10,000. (US$16000). The
Charity benefitting from this sponsorship is THE GUIDE DOGS FOR THE
BLIND ASSOCIATION with its regional centre in Leamington Spa. More
than twelve cars and crews have already signed up to participate and
two of them are more than forty years old. Quite apart from the
distance of the Run itself, many of these vehicles will be travelling
some distance both before and after the event. Entrants are coming
from as far away as Kent, Avon, Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire and
Suffolk. Cars taking part feature Herald, Spitfire, TR3A, TR6, Stag
and several of the larger 2000 and 2.5PI saloons.
John Macartney, the Event Co-ordinator who conceived the event and who
works at The Heritage Motor Centre, said, "The response we have had so
far, has been excellent. Many classic car owners are now reluctant to
undertake long distance runs of this sort and I am particularly
grateful to all those who have agreed to join us. The recent
escalation in fuel prices means each car is now likely to consume at
least £125 (US$200) worth of fuel to complete the journey. On top
of that there will be the cost for meals and snacks, so probably there
won't be all that much change out of £200 (US$320) per car. We've
had excellent support from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
and hope to have both puppies and guide dogs - with their owners at
Gaydon to tail-wag and wave us off and welcome us home. As we make our
way round the route, people who are supporting us at locations such as
Thetford, Canterbury and Hereford have done much work to attract local
media and Guide Dog fundraisers too. Sure, it'll be tiring driving
cars with thirty plus years of historical technology under the seats -
but it promises to be a lot of fun." John plans to compete in the
event himself, together with co-driver Paul Richardson, in a Triumph
TR3A which is part of The Heritage Motor Centre's unique collection of
classic British cars.
"I suppose you could say this is an 'official Works entry'," he
said. "We are following in our father's footsteps. Paul and I worked
for Standard Triumph in Coventry and London in the 1960's. Our
respective fathers also worked for Standard Triumph as well. My
father, Charles Macartney, joined in 1921, eventually becoming Chief
Inspector and Works Manager. Paul's father, Ken Richardson, was
Development Engineer (Sports Cars) and Competitions Manager. Apart
from the money we hope to raise for Guide Dogs, we're doing this run
in memory of our Dads. We'll be driving one of the TR3A's from the
Gaydon collection which the Managing Director and the Curator have
exceptionally and most generously made available to us especially for
this event. Usually, cars are not made available for this type of use,
so we're extremely fortunate. I wouldn't be surprised if two 'ghosts'
are with us in the space behind the seats as we complete the trip."
The Ten Cathedrals Run is open to any Standard or Triumph car,
regardless of its age. Contributions to help swell funds will always
be welcome. There is no entry fee. For further information please
contact John Macartney at The Heritage Motor Centre, Banbury Road,
Gaydon, near Warwick. Telephone 01926 641188 Fax 01926 641555.
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