Monday 8 November 2010

Not quite the Crucible...!

I did contemplate calling this blog "Snooker loopy" or "A load of balls" but that just seemed too obvious...

Well, another big event over and done with ~ 24 hour snooker marathon. The "planning" on this one started back in August, just after we had started fundraising. I was on a race trip from the Sunnybank and a few of us debated ideas and im not sure who suggested it (suspect it was either "John Smith", "Arthur Guinness" or perhaps "Snr San Miguel"...) but we decided to play snooker for 24 hours - and get sponsored to do so. Easy ?! Well, it seemed it at the time. Over the next few weeks we refined the plan and with the help of the club we incorporated it into a couple of nights fundraising activity as well. My aim was to raise enough money to make it really worth doing, especially as people were giving up their weekends and had £2,000 in the back of my mind.

Before we knew it, it was upon us and, armed with just a collection of energy drinks, a change of shirts, toothbrushes and a few  newspapers to keep us going, we broke off. The first few hours just seemed like an ordinary night down at the club. In the background the members night was going on with the dual treats of pie&peas and Trevor Craig - that bloke off of tv's x-factor (apparently).

As it got towards, and then past midnight the numbers dwindled - although  we did have some peple join us even then. Not sure if it was that they really wanted to wish us well, or that there was a promise of getting a pint. Hopefully both? However, it was soon left to myself, Tony, Greg, Daz, Ol, Dan, Leon and Jimmy to keep going.

I'll admit that we did all pinch a cat-nap here and there in between frames in the early hours but before we knew it, it was morning and we started getting visitors (my dad, Mrs Tony, my boss & Mrs Boss, and the cleaners) and before we knew it, it was morning and we were half way through. It felt like we had done the hardest bit. (Although some would argue the hardest bit was trying to eat the curry we had delivered - final word on that topic...!)

Evan, along with Maya, Sam and Loup all arrived for a photshoot around 10ish and that perked us all up. After that we had quite a lot of visitors which really helped speed things along and it was really nice to see some friendly faces (again, maybe attracted more by the bar as much as the chance to sit and watch 8 half-asleep, unshaved, increasingly wiffy blokes trying to play snooker).

The final push. A quick freshen up, a final cat-nap, an energy drink and even a tidy up of our temporary living quarters, and it was 7pm. Saturday night started and we were into the last few frames. People started to pop in, they seemed equally amazed and impressed that we were still there and still going.

By 8:40 we had played 53 frames of snooker and had scored over 5,000 points - and it seemed fitting that we should all cross the line together. So we played one final 54th game ~ 4v4. Slightly shambolic but a celebratory and rip-roaring finish with the winning points scored with literally seconds to go (where we were then ushered into the "big room" and given a standing ovation).

"Oh, go on then, one last pint..." and then I headed home for a quick bite to eat, say hello to Loup and then to bed.

Thanks so much to the lads for taking part. They all gave up their time on this - not just the 24 hours, but both the recovery and planning time, as well as getting the sponsors in the first place. It really means a lot to us, that people are so willing to offer so much. Also, a big thanks to Sunnybank Social Club for providing the resources and support that we needed to allow us to get on with it.

In the end, we should raise a couple of pounds over two grand. ...I love it when a plan comes together!!!

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