More ideas for fireballrun 2012

Ok so the guys at the fire station are starting to get a little stimulated about Fireballrun 2012 with the idea of setting a £500 limit on buying an old snotter of a car, team of 4 per car, decorate it , add stickers, raise your charity money, prizes for most raised and best looking car. The convoy it down to the Riviera to Monaco and back.

Thought on a post card please, we could raise lots for charity with plenty of support. All help welcome. Matt

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The fireball run 2012

Ok all,

It's been a whole 12 months since Curtis and I set off in search of the Target of 52hrs from London to Monte Carlo and back. We made it with 5hrs 18mins to spare.!!
2011 has seen us take a year off due to work commitments but planning is underway for 2012.......however the twist this time will be to do the same route but on 2 wheels.

Not sure what charity to raise for this year but as always I'm raising awareness for the firefighters charity.

Please contact t me via the blog if your interested in helping or taking part.

Matt


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A few photos of the Fireball Run.

> Well here are just a few pictures from the fireball run. John no
> problem, when this years stickers are taken off we shall donate them
> to the fridge.

Job done.

London to Monte Carlo and back 46hrs and 41mins. Who s up for next year. :-)

8hrs and 35min to Go!

Only the ferry to deal with . Just boarding.

Calais !

Were just coming into Calais and heading for the boat. All we need to do now is make it inside the M25 to complete an epic , if not rapid adventure! I think a little sleep on the boat might be in order, i hope we dont have to wait to long for a ferry.
I feel one more entry coming on before the end of all this. Go little mini Go!

Delierium is setting in!

I had a strange dream just now when i was dozing, i dreamt we had been sat in a mini for the last 2 days and had driven about 1500 miles. ARRGGGGHhhh.!
We have 275 miles to go till calais, the weather has cooled considerabley now the sun is going down. We have managed to up the speed again and the coolant seems to be behaving. What ever speed we seem to do the satnav has a mind of its own and just adds time to our journey. I need a holiday down in Monaco at Willems place. . . . Hope the boys enjoy the t-shirts.

Potential crisis hits the fireball run!

Dont panic mr mannering but its about 35 degrees and theres no air, as a result the tiny cooling system on the mini is struggling to cope and has over heated a few times. Our solution is this, while its hot slow the pace down, bent the grill some more, and taken the spot lights off again, all to get more air into the radiator and give her a fighting chance of staying cool . Once the sun goes down we can try and up the pace again as the air cools down.
Please badger your mates to donate if your reading this , it would be nice to think we could maybe get another 500 in online giving by the time we get home.. . . . . . . . The crisis and drama continues!

My navigator.

433 miles from calais we decided to do some tag team sleeping. We think we shall make it to the finish by 2am and intend to be in bed at haslemere by 3.

2.05pm - 570 miles to Calais.

Ok were coming out of the alps and rejoined the motorway at grenobles. Our bodies are deciding to stop working , we both have a bit of sciatica and the neck cushions we bought are now being used to cushion our backsides. We are aiming to make the 11.15 ferry. Wish us luck.

Alps

Well the journey maybe slower but the scenery is stunning! Roads are very windy but good surface so matt thinks he is on a race track. Keeping 2 speed limits of course. 10mile 2 change over at digne then its my turn. Mini is going well still. Gets a bit hot on the up hill stretch thou, but u would carrying this much weight!!

It was worth the drive. Just the drive back now!

Ok. Its 7am in the uk. Willem at hotel les deux freres , has a wonderful place and overlooks monaco in the hills. We are currently sat at table that prince albert of monaco used when he had dinner here. We are just organising our route back. Keep you posted.

Last fuel stop.

Right, My last drive of the day finished, Curtis now brings us in for the last 90miles. We are on the riviera and the mini is getting lots of smiles. Hello lewis nice to know someone is staying up this late to keep an eye on us . Last push to Monte Carlo, go little mini , go.

200 miles to go

Getting tired now. Been driving since 6am . Final push to monte carlo

Entry time 7pm. 315 miles to go.

Ok , sorry for the lack of updates however i just spent the last 2hrs driving so Curtis could finish watching a film on the laptop. Any how hes now pointing and im shotgun, well there is no way i can get in the back, its a bit of an earthquake back there. Now did i mention my backside is killing me ? We both now get out of the car when we fill up with fuel with a hunch, it take s us 5 mins to stand up straight, then we have to get back in. Anyway were just outside marsaille in a very long tunnel. Enjoy your bbq the howells-davies crew .

Entry 3.37pm 500miles to go till Monte Carlo.

Well we still have our sense of humour which is good. We had to make a little modification to the car as the vent and spot lights were stopping the air getting to the radiator, so we have bent the grill to trap more air and removed the spotlights. We have decided the best way to reduce the weight of the car is to eat all the food. Hello to haslemere and cranliegh fire station, dont forget to go gentle on us when we get back.
Were just coming up to dijon , and no Dom were not stopping for mustard. Im hoping Willem at les Deux Freres hasnt locked the doors when we arrive, i fear we might be doing the last hour or so in the dark.

693miles to go till Monte Carlo.

Ok. Were on the motorway about 20miles outside St- quinten, the gps shows we only have another 11hrs and 21mins before we can paddle in the med. Ive packed my speedos , Curtis has his leopard skin thong. The bananas have started to smell a bit so they might have to be ejected at the next pit stop.
Curtis is driving at the moment, and wants to say hello to Becky, and the kids who we know are checking in on our progress on the website. Although my son josh is too young to notice im gone . Sarah give him a big kiss please.
Any one reading this go tell people to donate at the link to the right.

Good bye england , see you in 2 days.

Well were now leaving england and on to france. According to the sat nav we should be in monaco by 11.30pm french time.

Go go go

Were in london !

Well we made it to london the car coped well with traffic jams, although the fan has been working hard , if it stops we might be in trouble. Pint and route planning on the south bank tonight. Not a late one though.

67 hours and counting.

Well yesterday Curtis and I had a practice car load and got the last few supplies. It nearly
all went wrong when we decided to
change the spark plugs and we throught we had snapped the old one off. A few sturn words and lots of WD40 later... We survived that crisis, our first together as team Haslemere!
Anyway getting the dongle today so I can
update the website and final checks. Then Saturday 3pm we head up to London to get ready for our Sunday departure. Thankyou again to all the car sponsors who have helped us get this journey on the road.

Haslemere classic car show.

Well its sunday 30th may and mini has her last outing before we leave next sunday. Infact this time next week we should be in france somewhere outside calais.
A big hello to all the students at stepping stones school , Hindhead. 7days and counting.

Replacement Driver Found!!

As Curtis is still struggling with an ankle injury that may mean that he is unable to drive on the 6th of June, i thought it best to look for a backup driver when this little man stepped upto the plate and offered his services as a back up driver. I would have accepted but he cant reach the pedals and keen though he is, all he wants to do is press buttons.

Curtis recovery is going well but it may mean that he just has to spend the entire trip feeding me M&Ms if old sicknote is going to spend the trip in the passenger seat.

INJURY CRISIS!!

Hi All, we think we have finalised the route for the FireBall Run 2010.The mini will be taking in London to Monte Carlo,but we thought that coming straight back would be far too straight forward.So we thought it would be a challenge to see how many countries we could do on the way back, so we now London-Monte Carlo-Turin-Geneve-Dijon-London.
There has been a little set back with the co driver,Curtis,he injured his ankle at an incident with work about a week ago and has been signed off work for another 10 days.More importantly, he's struggling to walk let alone drive!!!!Ill keep you all posted.


View FIREBALL RUN in a larger map

Ride it right event, haslemere.

Well the mini has had her first proper big outing to promote our drive to Monte Carlo and back. We were at Ready to Ride a bike safety event we have at the Fire station each year. It tries to address the fact that bikers are 2% of road users , yet make up 20% of all injuries and deaths on our roads!!

Thankyou to everyone who donated towards our event, its really nice when people show an interest in what were trying to do ( makes it feel worthwhile doing). Were still chipping away towards our £5000 fund rasiing target.

Thankyou again to all the Fire crew at Haslemere who worked their socks off today, we have had over 1000 bikers who have gone away happier and safer as a result of what we do.

Matt

Sardines in a can!!

We have raised a total £730 this week towards the total I'm not sure
what the total is overall but were going to count up everything for a
grand total on the 8th June when we get back.
These pictures were taken for promotion of the event on Wednesday. I'm
sure minis were like wagon wheels and marsbars , they've got smaller
as we've got older.

11042010139.jpg

The mini is all prepped and ready to go and were in alton at the spring car boot sale selling sponsor a mile tickets. A morning thankyou to sarah and sophie who have bought the first tickets of the day.
Prizes that can be won when we do the prize draw on 8th june include:
A spa break
Dinner for two
Army rugby match shirt
£50 lingerie voucher
and many more.

CAR GRAPHICS

Ive been up to see Graeme at signstudio and we have created a graphics template of what the car will look like. I take the car in to be done on April 6th and will then be driving the streets of Surrey promoting the event thereafter. Come on .......... SPONSOR THE EVENT FOR CHARITY!!

Vroom Vroom

Mini is living again!!!

Well , good news the water pump, pulley wheel and header tank, oh did i mention the nail in the rear tyre, have all now been fixed thanks to the the guys at proven garage in haslemere. We are currently waiting to have the graphics put on the car and attend a few events to promote what were doing. If any one has any raffle prizes they can donate, please just get in touch , our first raffle is 18th april at the ' Ready to ride' motor bike event at haslemere fire station, west street , haslemere , surrey. See you there. Matt & Curtis

A little set back

Ive been testing the car out ahead of our leaving date on D-Day, and she has developed a little leak!!! after close inspection the water pump and the alternator tensioner wheel have died. Thanks to Graham at Proven garage who has taken it in and is nursing her back to full health (better it happens here, than half way through France!).

We have also been in touch with the Imperial War Museum as we are leaving on D-Day, we would like to, time permitting, show our respects at one of the D-Day celebrations in france!!

THE NEW LOGO

The event is coming together nicely. The car is running well and all the little niggly issues have been sorted, so hopefully its plain sailing to the Riviera and back and not sail down and recovery vehicle back.

On the 26th March we are doing our first fund raiser which will be a charity car wash at Tesco in Haslemere , Surrey. Crews will be there from 10-4pm making sure your cars looking good for the new sunny spring weather.

The logo is courtesy of Graeme at Signstudio again.

UPDATE Monday 3rd March 2010

Ok , the car graphics have been sent to Graeme at Signstudio in Ripley, he's going to have a play with the layout and has also created a new logo to go on the car which looks fabulous. They have been amazing help and I can't recommend them highly enough if your looking to get some car or sign graphics made up.

We have to also say a huge thankyou to Willem at hotel les deux freres who has offered us accomodation for our few hours in Monte Carlo before we make the return journey, his hotel is in the hills outside Monaco overlooking the meditaranian sea. Take a look at the link on the right if your heading down to the riviera! I'm sure by the time we arrive you will see two very tired drivers.

The Mini is unleased from storage....... In the snow.

Well I took a drive upto Derby to get the Mini out of storage to get logo'ed up and ready to promote the Fireball Run. Up in Derby it was snowing!!! Anyway very soon Ill be posting the video of the car when she's looking all rally like. There is still sponsorship space on the car if there are any businesses out there wanting to donate to charity while getting some top advertising!

Thankyou!

Id like to just say a few thankyou s to a few individuals who have made personal donations so far:

Glynes and Geoff
Kate Morgan-Locke
The Dunnes
Philip Guest
Natalie Voller
Toby and Sally Stevens

Guys thankyou , June 6th The Fireball run sets off from Borough Road , London.

SUNDAY UPDATE

http://www.cosalt.com/

Well the fund raising has been running for a week now and we are upto £650, heading towards the £1000 mark which is good. There are also two donation points in place in the area, they are spoilt for choice catering unit at Focus DIY Alton industrial estate, and the Departure Lounge cafe on the A339 towards basingstoke.

Last night involved some event research which was "The Italian Job" , only difference is were not going to Italy, and were going to be stuck in the car for 2 days without any gold bulleon.

A new thankyou to Cosalt Protective clothing, who have provided us with clothing to wear for the trip and sponsored some of the fuel for the event.

Matt

A job we do for pride!

So everyone understands the mind set of a firefighter. This is a job you do as a vocation and we get huge satisfaction from doing our job well and making a difference. Our fund raising is going well and confirmed support so far includes:

Sponsors

• Signstudio
• Southbank University, London
• Raymond Reid Photograhics
• TESCO
• P&O ferries
• Cosalt protective clothing
  
  If people just wish to sponsor directly go to www.justgiving/fireballrun.com current sponsorship after 1 week is £200.00 Not a bad start!
  
  
  However if you would still like to assist with the event officially, there is still space on the car and we are looking for a company to sponsor the fuel for the trip, in addition I think we will both be needing soft cushions for the trip we did a test run of 150miles and my backside is very sore!
  
  
  See contact details at the bottom of the page.
  Matt

The blank canvas

Many thanks to Graeme Bluett at Signstudio 01483223117. They have agreed to supply the graphics for the sponsors on the car. Have a look at the picture and see where you would like to sponsor. My contact details are on the bottom of this page .

THE ROUTE.

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The Request For Charitable Support

The Fireball Run

Charity Fund Raising Event

Matthew Oakley


To whom it may concern,


This summer two fire fighters from Haslemere Fire Station are planning to take on an endurance driving fundraiser in an old Rover Mini Cooper. The intention is to drive from London to Monte Carlo and back again in under 51hrs.

The inspiration behind the idea was the 1964 Monte Carlo rally win by Paddy Hopkirk, the fact that’s 51yrs since Mini first rolled off the production line, and the desire to do something a little different to raise awareness and funds for The Firefighters Charity (www.firefighterscharity.org), and Unicef Haiti earthquake fund (www.unicef.org).

We are offering you the opportunity to raise funds by sponsoring the car. The fire crews would promote the event through the media and the event would be updated throughout via web blog and video diary. The car can be seen on the event website (www.fireballrun.co.uk)

We are aiming to raise a minimum of £5000 from the event, with your companies support we hope we can exceed this by a conciderable amount!

If you are also able to provide logistical support such as resources, assistance with ferry travel, communications, navigation equipment, fuel or even a prize for the charity auction then support in this way is also vital and helps towards the overall total for the charities.

To sponsor the event directly, or meet and discuss this further please contact me on 07961102712 or email matt.oakley@surreycc.gov.uk

Much appreciation for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.



Kind regards

Matthew Oakley

Monte Carlo or bust!

Ok lets bring things upto date.

The time frame for the challenge has been decided London to Monte Carlo and back within 51hrs!!

Why 51hrs?? The mini first rolled off the production line 51yrs ago, ideally we will be aiming to complete it in under 46hrs as its 46 years since Paddy Hopkirks Mini won the Monte Carlo rally!

I was interviewed by eagle radio today about the event and support so far includes:

• London Southbank University
• Raymond Reid Photographics  -  Haslemere
• Haslemere.com
• Sign Studio Graphic designs - Ripley
• P&O ferries

Thankyou for your support , the updated list will be published regularly.

If individuals or companies would like to sponsor the event or merely to donate directly, they can contact me on 07961102712 or email matt.oakley@surreycc.gov.uk or matto3187@googlemail.com

So who is this for.?

So i can update you all. Ive been away at christmas and missed all the snow. Also there has been yet another seasonal natural disaster in the earthquake in Haiti. For this reason its decided that charitable funds will be raised for unicef Haiti earthquake appeal, aswell as the Firefighters Charity. Planning is under way again after the Christmas break. Please contact me on 07961102712

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE AMERICANS

It would appear that fireballrun.com is an american event establsihed across the pond, it does however have nothing to do with me.

fireballrun.co.uk derived its name from the fact that my collegues and I are firefighters in the UK, thats the 'fire' part, and the rest comes from the well loved comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior (what a cast).

So there you go, thats where is came from......... where it goes to from here, who knows?? lets hope something good is created, and my slightly daft idea can raise lots of money for charity.

Happy Christmas

MONTE CARLO 1964

This is the reason behind the idea!! Monte Carlo 1964!!
As with any good idea its snowballing (no pun intended with the weather recently) with ideas! The basic principle is in place London to Monte Carlo and back as fast as you can. Now the fun bit, putting the infastructure together?
I need sponsors to help raise the money, the car i have, the mechanic co-driver i have, although I havent told Curtis yet............. he owes me a favour though. Media coverage is next on my agenda.
Its Christmas which will give me time to ponder the next move. However if your reading this , thinks its a good idea and your company wants to help then get in touch.

THE IDEA IS BORN!!!

Right.... I had a dream ( no that ones been used!) Hang on lads Ive had an idea!!! After reading about Paddy Hopkirk 1964 mini in the Monte Carlo rally, the idea is to drive from Haslemere to Monte Carlo and back again in as shorter time as possible to raise money for the Firefighters Charity and another good cause.
Thats the concept............Now how to make the money?? well the plan was to auction off each body panel to people and businesses who want to put their company logo or message on the car.

Aiming for july next year, planning starts now, anyway heres the car. Comments on a post card or let me know if youd like to reserve a part of the car?