The sun shone as 29 teams started the eighth Wooden Spoon Ford Ranger Great Lakeland Challenge having pledged a fantastic £166,104.00.

Congratulations to all the competitors, sponsors and marshals who worked so hard to make the 2004 GLC such a fantastic event.

At 07.30 on Friday morning, the sun was shining and the water was still as the flag went down for the start of the 2004 Ford Ranger Great Lakeland Challenge. The start was spectacular, the weather perfect, the marshals eager and the teams excelled themselves to make this one of the most memorable Spoon Challenges yet…

Everyone’s a winner on the Great Lakeland Challenge,  but special congratulations go to: overall winners Plumb Bobs who won the challenge bowl by completing all three sections in 7 hours 50 minutes and pledging a breathtaking £25,000. Roaring Forties did some phenomenal fund raising to win the Funding Bowl pledging an enormous £18,501. Pro-Mil (aka Sweeney’s Men), 2003 Fastest Time Bowl Winners, returned to win again in 2004, knocking an incredible 45 minutes off their previous time by completing all three sections in 7 hours and 9 minutes including changeovers.

Team Audi were left stroking the canoe bowl with a record breaking 1 hour 50 minutes; Lactic Acid  rode off with the Cycle Bowl in 2 hours 11 minutes and The Mad, The Bad & The Dad ran away with the Mountain Bowl with a climbing time of 2 hours 53 minutes. Thunderbirds pranced off with the Ladies Bowl having completed all three sections in 10 hours 1 minute whilst Preston Accies took the Veteran’s Bowl with a total time of 8 hours 3 minutes. The Best Dressed Vehicle was driven away by League of Gentlemen and the Wooden Spoons were awarded to The Lotus Position who finished the event in a stirring 11 hours 53 minutes.

Congratulations to you all, but the real winners will be the disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK who will benefit from your amazing hard work and dedication – thank you one and all.

The financial success of this event would not be possible without the support of our sponsors and volunteers. Firstly a huge thank you to Ford Motor Company for supplying team and marshal vehicles as well as logistical support and teams on the event. Special thanks to Mark Jones and his team for supporting the event from Head Office and Joanna Lawrence from the Ford Event Team for handling the vehicle logistics and Carl and Jerry for their logistical support and event dressing on the day. The vehicles were once again insured free of charge by Groupama and we thank Jack Brownhill for his continued support.  We lament the last year of support from Karrimor and thank them for the supply of team and marshal clothing over the last 5 years, and thanks to Panavision and Audiolink who provided the marshal communication. Thanks to Bodyfactor for providing the Massage Team and fitness advice prior to the challenge and Buxton Water for keeping the teams hydrated, to Calvin Rae at Ghyllside Cycles for providing a free bike check and Tom Sibbald and the staff at YMCA Lakeside who did an excellent job once again providing canoe training and safety cover on the event.

Kath Moreton, Jackie Wakefield and all the staff at The Langdale Hotel & Country Club provided a fabulous venue and service, and thanks to the National Trust for allowing us to use Fell Foot Park, Low Wray Campsite and Wasdale Head, and the Rowand family for allowing us to finish the event at Stool End Farm.

Last & by no means least, a very special thanks to the marshals whose role included putting up and taking down equipment, kit-checking, starting, finishing, scoring, massaging, cajoling, encouraging, photographing, transporting and generally holding the event together – we couldn’t do it without you. And finally to our Challenge Photographer Ian Richards, our ‘Where’s Wally’ of the Spoon Challenges, he seems to be everywhere at once and did a fantastic job of both capturing the event on film and providing entertainment at the end with his cover band ‘The Duvets‘ …. Thank you one and all….

So What Now?
The 2005 Challenge will take place on Friday 20th May and will once again be based at the Langdale Hotel & Country Club. Entry forms will be automatically sent out to all 2004 challengers within the next month or so. If you require additional forms for friends, family or colleagues, please contact the Challenge Office Tel: 01889 582 889 email: challenge@eventsunlimited.co.uk.