Epic Butterfly Walk!

[sami]

The plan is to hitch back to Land's end (we're totally broke!) to complete the round trip, then my mum is meeting us there for champagne and a lift back to Epsom

[Jack Harrison]

Wiki:

Hitchhiking: M. Clark and G. Beynon are the last hitchhikers recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John o' Groats trip (17 hours 8 minutes)

If either or both of you can equal or beat TWICE that time ie achieve 34 hours 16 minutes or better, then again I'll equal my original donation.

But champers!? Cava from Tesco or Asda or wherever is a perfectly good alternative at around 1/10 of the cost

Jack

[sami]

WE'VE DONE IT!!
we've walked the whole length of Britain in 87 days!!!
Pics to follow
So Happy!!!

[Rogerdodge]

Total respect and admiration.

Good luck with the journey home.
See you at the Winter Social.

Hugs and stuff

[Padfield]

Guy

[Rogerdodge]

Guy
I actually heard a commentator say -
"He is probably going to medal tonight"
Evolution of language.

p.s
I fouind this from the Grauniad from 4 years ago
"podiuming" is blissful-

The excitement of the Olympics may be over for another four years but the controversy continues. I refer, of course, to the outrage provoked by the use of the verb "to medal". A sure sign, according to some, that the linguistic barbarians are not only at the gates: they have battered their way through, pulled up a chair, helped themselves to a beer and are now undermining our very way of life by rewriting our grammar books to suit their evil purpose.

I don't recall such a fuss at Athens in 2004. But Great Britain didn't win so many medals then. Perhaps the question of whether our sportsmen and women can be said to be "medalling" has only really arisen at this Olympics because of our unprecedented success.

In fact, the term has been common among athletes for years. Here is a typical quote from the official Team GB website, long before we got to Beijing: "The team includes athletes who have medalled at Olympic, World and European level, so this is an exciting proposition for the Games."

But while as a headline writer I would have loved to see "Tweddle medals" in the Guardian (sadly, Britain's top female gymnast came fourth), there's no doubt that the expression sends a shudder through many people when used by commentators speculating over when yet another of our cyclists or rowers will "medal".

As editor of the Guardian style guide I've learned that, for some readers, our worst offence is to submit to what they regard as the creeping "Americanisation" of English, which they blame on television, pop music, the computer and similar new-fangled inventions.

Language changes, however, and the diehards generally lose the battle (which is not to say it is never worth fighting). I came across a copy of the 1950 edition of the Manchester Guardian stylebook recently and among "Americanisms" that it insists should be avoided are: balding, boost, call on the telephone, teen-ager (sic), and top secret.

So is "medalling" just another example of the way our beautiful language is being dragged to hell in a transatlantic handcart?

Well, not quite. As a letter writer to this page has pointed out, the OED lists examples of using "medal" as a verb as long ago as Byron, in 1822: "He was medalled." And this is Thackeray, writing in the mid-19th century: "He went home medalled by the King." The OED gives these two quotations in support of its first definition of "medal" as a verb: "to decorate or honour with a medal; to confer a medal upon as a mark of distinction". Admittedly this is a transitive rather than intransitive usage, but not so far in spirit from the second definition, the one we heard so often in Beijing - but dated by the OED from 1966: "to win a medal (ie to come first, second, or third in a sporting event or competition)".

There's nothing illegal, or immoral, about using a noun as a verb, despite what one American columnist calls "anti-verbing prejudice" from some people. He goes on: "Do these dogmatic whiners really eschew verbs derived from nouns? Not a chance. You can bet that they mouth off, mentor pupils, and head committees on proper usage. They probably even phone home, fax contracts, and Google people."

Gary Glitter has more chance of a Christmas No 1 than I do of persuading Guardian readers that "to medal" is OK, but I have to say I have no problem with it. It's quite useful to have an alternative to "win a medal". One of my Guardian colleagues has gone so far as to coin the excellent "outmedal" (as in "Bank on Britain's best squad for a generation to outmedal Italians").

If you are troubled by "medalled", I have to warn you: there is worse to come. As far back as 1992, an Australian newspaper quoted an athlete who hadn't won an event all season, "but has podiumed a couple of times". This seems to be going too far and bloggers have detected an "odium against podium". However, don't bet against Team GB "podiuming" a record number of times in 2012.

[Susie]

WE'VE DONE IT!!
we've walked the whole length of Britain in 87 days!!!
Pics to follow
So Happy!!!

Congratulations!

You should treat yourselves to a night in a luxury hotel and free dinner when you get back down south!

[Pete Eeles]

Well done both - simply amazing!

Will update the home page when I get home from hols on Sunday!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Mark Colvin]

An olympic achievement ...

Congratulations and total respect to you both.

Kindest regards. Mark

[Neil Hulme]

Brilliant. What an achievement.
Congratulations, Neil

[Rogerdodge]

Sami texted me this photo, and asked me to post it here.
It is brilliant.

[Jack Harrison]

Disgraceful Seth - you haven't trimmed your beard for at least 87 days.

An amount equal to my original donation will be on its way in the morning. I daren't do it now as being just back from the pub, I might add a few extra zeroes in error

Jack

[Lee Hurrell]

And to think you took the p*** out of my Movember tash....

HUGE congratulations to both of you for such a mammoth undertaking in such a good cause. You are true Olympians and deserve every medal going

Have a bloody good rest and a safe journey back. Looking forward to the pictures and to catching up with you both soon.

Best wishes,

Lee

[Wurzel]

Huge congratulations to you both, fantastic!

Have a goodun (rest that is)

Wurzel

[Vince Massimo]

A truly heroic effort. Very well done both of you

Vince

[Jack Harrison]

I have now doubled my original modest donation because THEY HAVE GOT THERE.

Come on the rest of you - do the same.

And remember: I'd again equal my original donation if Seth and/or Sami can achieve a hitch hike time back to Land's End of 34 hours 16 mins or better (twice the Guinness Book of Records best ever time).

Jack

[Philzoid]

Mega congratulations to both of you and good to see you both look in fine fettle if a little David Bellamy-ish Seth . The sky has a halo look about it, very apt

Use the money raised and get yourself a helicopter ride back

[MikeOxon]

Congratulations! From the comfort of my armchair, it seemed to pass amazingly quickly but I don't have the fantastic memories that you will always have. Where next? Perhaps the Santiago pilgrimage trail.

Mike

[sami]

Thanks all!
Jack - please could you confirm the hitch hiking rules, I.e does the clock stop when we stop for the night?

[Jack Harrison]

No allowance for night stop, rests etc. You have to have those while waiting or in a vehicle.

Some people (not including me) had a hitch hike race after finals at uni. The race was Nottingham (our uni) to Land' End, John o' Groats, Nottingham (optional: the other way round). The winner was my good mate Mont Foreman who took a shade over three days.

Mont was a mathematician/physicist but he didn't cheat like the follow in the Limerick (amended - with apologies to Anon):

There was a young man called Bright,
Whose hitch hiked much faster than light,
He set out one day,
In a relative way,
And got back the previous night.

Jack