Last Transport From Metropolis 50km – 09.10.2121, with Beyond Marathon and Cockbain Events

Report of Satine: On Saturday evening, of 9^th October 2121, myself and three of my fellow citizens of the borderlands of Metropolis (collectively know as Team Van’ity Unicorns; METthodius, ROPata, Olaide and LISsa) arrived at the Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey.

Why?

The reason: it is 100 years since space travel began, and those who could do so, left this troubled world by paying for space travel to the far superior off-world colonies. In the volatile land of the “UK” that was left behind. The tensions were further triggered by the now far distant disaster of Brexit, fracturing the Kingdom into shards; frustrated, violent, and suspicious shards, whilst the economy was plunged into a bottomless black hole which the "UK" never recovered from. The “UK” no longer exists, the countries within it now operate independently with hard borders (particularly in the north, where an actual wall from hard cold stone has been reconstructed), which are zealously enforced. Where London used to sit, Metropolis now stands; an independent military state. No one leaves, no one enters, and its borders aggressively push outwards into the neighbouring state of Anglia. The Metropolis Government sought to control its people through suppressing their thoughts and free will, via the enforced vaccination programme, G23. The vaccine was not effective in all citizens, and these “sense offenders” go about their business pretending to be under the influence, but thinking independently. Some escaped to Anglia. That is our dream too, to escape. We live in the borderlands of Metropolis, living under the same rules as the military state, but without many of the privileges. The worst of both worlds. We seek to end this suppression. We responded to a contact from R.U.N, the Resistance Underground Network. 

The mission: the 9th of October 2121 was the date set 2 years ago for the mission; a planned insertion of a volunteer force, into central Metropolis. 

The aim: to collect intelligence, specifically geo locations on key buildings in Metropolis, and information on the Maschinemensch programme (the robot programme).

That is why we are here.

On arrival at base, we were assigned new identities and given ID cards (Idrisa Marshall, Erebus White, Tararus Escott, Satine Lomax). 

We were assigned our primary mission for 02:00 (to be in a specific location in central Metropolis), and told to meet our contact at 01:36, plus we must be at the exit location by 07:00 at the latest, in order to be on the last bus out of Metropolis. We met senior members of R.U.N at base, and learnt information for additional missions along the way. Through the official communications channels, we may also get more missions during the night. 

We spoke to Maria, the Leader of R.U.N. and learned of her story, which added fuel to our fire that we must be successful in completing our mission. 

By this point, I (Satine) was feeling the effect of all the uncertainty and suspicion that naturally you would under such pressure and scrutiny, and confused my first back story, with my real story, which wasn’t my new persona’s back story. Are you with me? Perhaps because of this error, or more likely, because we all must suspect each other at all times and trust no-one, we were sent for “voluntary” robot testing. Here, we underwent psychological and medical (with Dr Hannibal, the eye doctor) testing. We all passed. Team Van-ity Unicorns contains no robots. We are the real deal, it is proven; hard work, sacrifice, and unwavering determination is what has made us the way were are. The same could not be said for all those who had volunteered for R.U.N, who tested positive in the testing, and had to be “dealt with” immediately. Having passed the test, we were bundled off to the Mission Briefing.

The briefing was cut short by an enemy infiltrating our ranks, and we all vacated the building before the necessary destruction was implemented in the gunpowder mills.

Thus, equipped with so much information that one might say we seemed slightly confused, at 20:50 Team Van’ity Unicorn set off, complete with some basic tech in the form of “What 3 Words” (which was probably quite sophisticated in 2021) where we loaded the location of our missions. We began with around 8 miles down the River Lea towards the Metropolis; we could soon see its red, regulated, lighting gleaming in the distance, from the darkness of the water ways which we stealthily progressed along. 

We had to be careful of the state Eyes who could track our movements (via our geo-tags which all Metropolis citizens must wear), and intercept us at any point. We could sometimes see their location on the tracking app, but such was the devious nature of the Metropolis Government, their actions were often concealed, and their location would drop off.  If the Eyes found us, we needed a convincing back story as to why we were out in Metropolis after the curfew, to get them off our back. To calm our nerves, we practised our back story on the the way down the river, which provided some handy evidence (our house boat had been pillaged by the resistance and we were on the run, as loyal citizens of Metropolis - as proven by our themed manicures - seeking safety). 

With the relentless worry of yet another story to remember under pressure, the strain was beginning to show for certain members of our team, and our nerves were constantly frayed by the signs up all around the borderlands.

In the vicinity of Hackney Marshes, we took our chances, and left the river, and got onto the roads, heading west through Clapton and down to Hackney. Down the A10 (Kingsland Road) through the Dalston to Liverpool Street area, we picked up additional vital intelligence that the rule of law, in this area of Metropolis at least, seemed to have been breached, and the Government appeared to have lost control of the citizens. The standard uniform of citizens (and any clothing for that matter) appeared to have been dropped (almost entirely in many cases), and there appeared to have be vast quantities of alcohol and illegal substances smuggled in, and consumed with abandon, the effects of which were clear to observe. The citizens were running riot, slumped in doorways, and fights had broken out. They were most disrespectful to us, the R.U.N operatives; us, who were there trying to help at such great risk! So unjust! There appeared to be no indication the Government was attempting to control this breakout. Interesting..... Some kind of glitch in the robot programme, perhaps?

Despite this challenging situation, we were able to complete our first mission, finding the location of one of 5 "Bio-Factories" . To complete a mission, we had to take photo evidence, and wait in location for 30 seconds, to allow the R.U.N trackers to collect our location. 

We were distracted temporarily from the mission, by the sheer sight of the might of central Metropolis.... 

 

....before we became anxious of the ever presence of the Eyes, and took some backs streets down towards our next location, the Armoury. There was almost a situation here, when a crowd of Metropolis citizens, known as "The Beefeaters" were gathered outside the gates, waiting for a guard to let them back inside. They seemed very jolly, and we wondered, had they been a part of the breakout activities taking place just a couple of miles away? We hid around the corner until they were safely locked inside, and then collected our intel. 

 

Pleased with our calm demeanour when faced with such circumstances, we headed down to the river for a breather and to recover ourselves. 

Our next missions took us to Waterloo. We had a heart-in-the-mouth moment where we, at the last moment, noticed the Eyes on the live tracking map just ahead of us on the road. We shot into a car park, and skirted down some back streets, to collect another Bio-Factory by Waterloo....

And a big prize, The Eyes HQ.

There was another moment here, when a security guard popped out of the Eyes HQ to ask if we were doing something, because he had noticed loads of strangely dressed (for this time of night anyway, it was 01:00 after all) people run up, take a photo, and run off again. After a moment's pause where we tried to ascertain if he was friend or foe, it soon became obvious that he was 100% honestly a genuine Metropolis citizen, who was interested in his fellow citizens endeavours. After the patronisation and sarcasm we had received from some citizens earlier in the night, it was nice to meet an ally, and there shall always be a space for him on Team Unicorn should he decide to join R.U.N.

Then, it was time to meet our contact, at 01:36. The location was over the river - Embankment. Happily (as by now some additional stimulation was required), we discovered that iced coffee is still readily available in Metropolis, and can be purchased with only mild interrogation from the shop owners. As we had a short pause before our contact meeting (so as to avoid attracting attention to the Eyes), we successfully navigated a Metropolis shop to stock up on said stimulation. Our contact, Kyle, seemed a bit shifty, but after showing him our ID and evidence of our missions, he gave us the locations of some more missions, plus a fortune cookie, which revealed our final exit location. 

We had some time before the 02:00 mission, so we completed Dr Hannibal's mission on the Strand.

Then, it was a quick step up to our location for the 02:00 mission (via a conveniently located, and surprisingly clean, port-a-loo - central Metropolis at night time is tricky when you are not a robot, and need to empty your bladder on occasion). At 02:00 each member/team in R.U.N had a different location to get to, and at 02:00 exactly we raised our trackers in the air.....to form a V for Victory over Metropolis, to send a message to the Government! They had been infiltrated! We stand defiant!

Now, we had 5 hours to get back to base, and to collect some more bonus missions. 

We planned a pretty straightforward route, which was definitely not the most scenic. I hear that Metropolis has quite a nice trail along the River, which would have been nice, for a bit of peace and quiet, and to calm the nerves a bit. But, missions are missions, we're here to focus, not faff around looking at nice things. The missions we had been allocated were north of the river, so there we would look. We couldn't miss 07:00, or would risk being trapped in Metropolis indefinitely, so we had to be careful not to get greedy on the missions.

On the way we deviated to do a mission, given to us right at the beginning by Kara, one of the operatives at R.U.N. This had been to find her parent's house, and give them a message from her. Quite a nice house, it turned out. 

Some quite nice buildings around here as well. Must be one of the nicer neighbourhoods of Metropolis I suppose.

Next mission was to find the Alien Lab.

Also seemed quite a nice neighbourhood. No Eyes around here according to the tracker.

Then it was out west to pick up the final missions.

Plus some additional Halloween cheer. Maybe it's not so bad in Metropolis after all, people seem to have a bit of fun?

But now was no time to loose nerve, or have doubtful thoughts! We refocussed on our missions again, and resolutely headed west in the direction of the exit point, which we now knew was Feltham.

We made it back to the exit point at about 06:00. Which left plenty of time for breakfast rolls and hot drinks, and to catch up with fellow R.U.N volunteers. 

We made it through Metropolis! Collected some bonus missions, and completed 34.5 miles, plus, and most importantly, we avoided the Eyes.

I have shared this mission, and these photos, here with you my friends, as I trust you. I know I can rely on you (as long as you have robot testing, to prove you're real) to keep this information secret, and join R.U.N. for any future missions. Remember - V for Victory!!!!!!! End of Satine's report.

Note (by Amy): I just read that through. I do, 100%, sound like I've lost my mind, even more so than before.  I'm still not entirely sure what happened last night, it may even have been a dream. The only thing I am sure of that that it was beyond brilliant, and a totally new idea in ultramarathons! Thanks so much Beyond Marathon and Cockbain Events. That must have taken so much to organise! Everything that was going on all night, updating, changing, all the time - epic! And the actors were so fabulous - I was genuinely so nervous at the start, it felt real and surreal in equal measures, which I think is a fabulous balance. Such an adventure, and hoping there will be more! Team Van'ity Unicorn - as always, love you guys and being in a team with you! Remember - there's no I in Team, but there is an I in Win. And Eyes all around. Till the next time.....

P.S. Thanks Tararus, Erebus, Rachel Gould and Satine for the photos.

The Jersey Marathon, 03.20.2021

It was so good to do a big marathon again, my first "big" event since going to Malta to run the marathon there, in March 2020, just before the pandemic. I think about Malta a lot, and talk about it a lot too! We were so lucky to get there, just before the world changed, it's been a little boost to think about it all the way through the lockdowns. I remember it was the first time I saw anyone wear a mask, and at the airport in Malta they were checking everyone's temperature on arrival. But that was about it, really, and those things all felt a bit "odd" and not like anything was really much a threat. It's funny to think now that that was only 18 months ago, and how much has changed since then. Anyway, it has, and it was great to get on a plane and go somewhere different again! Albeit only for about 36 hours, but still!

Andrew and I got up at 03:00 and caught an early morning flight on Saturday...

... and met Dave at St Helier in Jersey. We headed for breakfast (crepes)...

And then to registration to pick up our numbers. The marathon is a big event in Jersey, but it's still pretty small and low key, so nothing like the London Expo (congratulations to everyone who ran London, and other marathons, this weekend!). I loved it - totally chilled out and all very easy and friendly!

The weather had taken a turn, so instead of heading to the castle (which is accessed by a walkway at low tide, or a boat) which was shut due to the winds, we headed to the Jersey War Tunnels instead.

Then, it was time for an early carb-loading dinner (and ice-cream) at Bella Pasta, before heading back to the Purple Palace to prepare for the big day!

The marathon started at 09:00 and the start was only 10 minutes walk from the hotel, so there was plenty of time for posing around. 

Great atmosphere at the start. As well as the Marathon, there was the Marathon Relay going on (teams of 4 doing the marathon - it's a big thing in Jersey, competition between the teams is fierce!) and the Marathon Mile. I love the buzz of city marathons at the start, the air feels electric!

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1......GO!

The first mile was through the streets of St Helier, and the streets were lined with people, so was a great way to get going! Then, the route headed out of the town for a few uphill miles, across the middle of the island, until at about 10km in you get up towards the north of the island and have great views over the north coast. Through lots of pretty villages with great support in each one! I ran with Andrew for the first 10 or so miles, before he sprinted off to do a great run, and to try to catch Dave who had sprinted off at the start! They both did brilliant runs/ times - hurrah chaps!!

The route then goes up into the north westerly corner of the island, before heading back south and past the airport (whilst a plane was taking off!) and then through a trail section to the south west corner of the island (where the La Corbiere lighthouse is, which I managed to miss). From there, it's back along the roads in a bit of an uphill section, before a nice downhill trail bit, where I fell over AGAIN. I had been worried all week I wouldn't be able to run because of my calf that I hurt the last time I fell over. My calf turned out to be fine, just a little niggle, but no pain. Then, to celebrate this unexpectedly fast recovery, I fell over again and landed on the same leg! Huge thanks to the man who was running near me at the time who stopped and helped me up, and the lady who stopped to make sure I was OK. Runners are so kind. My calf had a massive cramp when I tried to stand up, so I would have struggled to get vertical again without their helping hands and kindness. After a little walk it seemed to calm down, and I could run again. Just have another gash to my knee, and it's now seeming sure that I will never be a knee model. 

After this eventful section, it was back to the coast at St Aubin, and then along promenade for the last 5 km or so, around the bay back to St Helier. This bit was nice with loads of support, but I was feeling it by then, and the castle seemed to take forever to get any closer! 

The weather for the whole run was beautiful after the stormy weather yesterday and some showers at the start. The last 1/2 a mile though was out along the coast path towards the castle, and by tall buildings, and the wind was something else, like being in a wind tunnel (in the wrong direction)!

I started far too fast for me, getting caught up in the crowds and being pulled along by the other runners for the first half, and I paid for it in the second half! But, it felt good to push myself more than I have lately, and I managed to get back in under 4 hours, admittedly not particularly convincingly with 3:59, but as my last sub-4 was pre-Covid, I'll take that! 

Then, it was to the race marquee for the famous post race "Burger and Beer"....

What a great event, I will definitely be back to do it again, and I highly recommend it! Thank you to the organisers and all the volunteers and supporters all around the course - such great hospitality and support the whole way around, and really well organised! 

And thank you Andrew and Dave for a fabulous weekend! And especially Dave for letting us use your room after we checked out, and for sharing your 5 hours worth of Jersey Coach Tour knowledge with us during the weekend! It was the best weekend adventure!