The prologue. South 3-5-16, then foolishly across Frank Kitts to 15 as we now had no loop back. 6 and across the bridge to 7; 18 at the city gallery, 19 oops its up high, 20 then back to 19 and across the city-to-sea walkway to the coathangers at 1A. Dave yells at me "hang on", 9, less than one minute to go, damn, we go for it, one minute late.

Main event. Several teams fancied their chances of picking up both 2D and 2E prior to the first train leaving at 10:02, but none of us managed both - just Poplar Grove. Plenty of contenders on the train. Got off at Box Hill and shot through 21-22-31-23-52-24 before 32 to minimise the climb and a Mizone from the dairy in Ngaio. Train to Crofton Downs. 25-61-44-27-26 in the north end of Wilton Bush up to the top of Tinakori Hill and 82. Back down to the Karori Cemetery 33-29-45-28-53 and along the skyline walkway to 71, to 34 in Karori Park via 2B, 2A, 35 and up to Wrights Hill 72. Round the top of the Sanctuary to 91, down the "Carparts" track for the sheer fun of it, 62 at the Windmill turnoff, 38 in Brooklyn, then 2H-2G and 2F. Finish time 3:40:14

Guilty Conscience: Bill Edwards and Tim Wilson, 2nd 6-hour

Prologue : 4 - 15 - 7 - 18 - 20 - 19 - 6 - 16 - 5 - 3 - 14 - 13 - 12 Went very smoothly and I'd be impressed if anyone did better within the time limit.

Main event: 2D Almost went for 2E but decided against it, probably wisely. Train to Ngaio. 24 - 32 - 52 - 23 - 22 Intended to get back on the train at Khandallah to get to Raroa to do 41 - 51 - 42 - 81, but platform was being rebuilt and trains not stopping . Aaaarggghhhh! Panic for a couple of minutes working out what to do, then 21 - 42 - 81 - 61 Hard to keep upright on the ridge. Think there was a 155 Kmh gust recorded at Kaukau! 25 - 26 - 44 - 27 - 33 - 29 - 45 - 28 - 53 - 71

This was the major decision point. Tim didn't seem impressed with the suggestion of climbing Wright's Hill and heading off round the sanctuary, So we got 2B and then the bus. We had time to get 2C as well but didn't, opting for supplies from a dairy instead. Bus from stop 4327 to Lambton Quay then change to Strathmore bus to stop 6099. The bus arrived 11 minutes late. Very frustrating, as time very limited at this stage. Almost swearing aloud when we stopping for nearly 5 mins in Kilbirnie while we changed drivers. Failed to notice that we went straight past 2S. Anyhow 92 - 73 - 3A - 2T - 2V (Not the original plan, but we only had 30 mins instead of the 40 we should have had) Bus from stop 7040 (Seatoun) - 7023 (somewhere above Kilbirnie) 2K- 63 - 2F - 2G. Finish time 3:43:14

Cam and Dean: Cameron Durno and Dean Ford, 3rd 6-hour

We went first to the Rugby Union and then onto the Johnsonville train. We got off at Ngaio collecting checkpoints in Ngaio and Khandallah missing checkpoint 31 as we had planned to get the train out to Raroa so we had to get to the station (Khandallah) in time. Unfortunately the station was closed!! So we changed plans, ran up Kaukau via the pool (21) and down into Johnsonville to catch the train at Rarao and collecting that checkpoint (41).

We then got off the train at Crofton Downs and ran up the hill to the barn (61) and back down through the Otari reserve collecting 25, 26, 27, and 44. We then ran along the flat track and went up via the bridge (33) into the cemetery 29, 45, 28, 53. Along the ridge line to 71, 34, 2a, 2b, 35. Up Wrights hill to 72, down to 46 and then we climbed up to Wadestown for 82, 2D. Finally we went up to 36 and ran down the hill to finish.

Summary: we got the train out and back.

Demon Bro's: Dennis and Pim de Monchy, 4th 6-hour

First to the Bucket fountain for 2G, then the Airport Flyer to Haitaitai to clean up that loop, 2L, 2K, 63, 2J and 37 and ran round to 49. Waited 20 mins at stop 6081 for a bus that only took us 1km! Gutted. Ran the loop 64, 2W, 2V, 2U, 73, 2T, (skipped 3A in the hope that we'd make it onto the Flyer again!), 2S, 92. Bus #44 pulled up below 92 as we came past, and as we were too late for the Flyer we jumped on #44 to the Hospital. Then #1 towards Island Bay and looped 2M, 2N, 48, 2R, 55, 39, 2Q and 2P. Didn't have the legs to go up the hill to 54.

Caught #1 back to the hospital and did the climbing loop 38, 62, 46 and as we hit the bottom of the sanctuary road we luckily timed it to perfection to catch a bus #(?) towards the Bot Gardens to leave us with a quick dash to get 36 and a 5minute wait for the cable car down. On the way home we made a dash towards the NZRFU building for 2E, and got about 2 thirds of the way there before pulling our heads in and turning round for the sprint to the finish.

Five buses and one cable car ride, and hindsight telling us we should have skipped Island Bay and headed to Wilton or Karori.

One Night Stand: Liam Drew and Rachel Ockelford, 5th 6-hour and 1st Mixed

Main event : Start to 2D, aimed for 2E and aborted to catch J'Ville train. Got off at Raroa, 41, 51 via map reading error. Over Kaukau to 42, back to Kaukau to 81, 24, 32, train from Ngaio to Boxhill. 21, 22, 31, 23, 52, down into Ngaio Gorge, up steepest faintest track ever to 43. Along ridge of Tinakori Hill to 82, down to 26, 25, out and back to 61, 44, 27, 53, 28, 45, 29, 46, 36, cablecar and home.

Still Crazy: Graeme Silcock and Sue Eastwood, 34th 6-hour, relevant to middle of the field

Airport flyer bus to air freight depot; 92. Strathmore bus in just the right place at the right time to take us to 2S; 2T, 3A, 73, 2U, 2V, 2W, 62; Miramar bus (hoped to get 49 out bus window but boat wrong way around – binoculars from Mt Vic would have got it); Hopped off bus east side of tunnel, 2K, 63.

Karori Park bus from Courtenay Place – were wanting a Mairangi bus but missed it by two minutes – by the time we got to Bowen Street we were immediately behind it. Got off the bus just after the Karori tunnel and got 46. By the time we got back to the bus stop the Mairangi bus we followed up Bowen Street popped out of the tunnel which we took to the closest stop to 82; 26 then Wilton bush played tricks on my tired mind – bad route choices and poor navigation cost us a bit here; 25, 27, 33, 29; Karori Bus to Glenmore Street – decided we could get to 36 and finish in 15 minutes - again a bad mistake – sat on the cablecar waiting for it to go for 8 minutes. Should have run down the hill – that took us 30 minutes – thus 15 minutes late.

Summary: 6 buses and the Cablecar.

Bert and Ernie: John and Tim Robertson, winner 3-hour

Prologue: Were off and the only thing on my mind is to get Tim within touching distance as we tear off for the first control. No idea where we are headed as Tim has the map and I only have the questions. Teamwork prevails and as Tim yells out the number he’s headed for I yell the question back to Tim. Anyway we head past 4 (noting roof colour on the way past – time to fill in the answer at the next stop!). Bollards counted at 15, its across to 16, then over the bridge to 7, 18, 20 and 19. Heading back home to collect 6 at the fountain, 5 on the promenade wall, 3 and 14, 13 on the wharf. Quick look at the watch and a scamper around the block to collect 12 and in to the finish – 2 seconds to spare so well timed. And equalled Bill & Tim for the most points so felt that was a great start J

Homework on a few bus routes and some map planning indicated East of the airport was a good choice again with the hope of picking up some controls between Haitaitai and the finish too. So a quick run to catch the Flyer at Courtenay Place picking up 2G and 9 on the way. Tim was impressed with the awesome bus – he didn’t think we had such cool buses in NZ! Close competitors the Ladybugs also on the bus! Off at the South of the airport and up the cruel steps to #92. Still a chance to make a gap on the other Flyer’s. Very surprised to find some three hours teams already there having caught a #44 bus to the end of Kekerenga St – must remember that one!!

Time to run – so along to #73 then down the hill to collect 1Y, 2U, 1X, 2V and 1W in Seatoun. Followed by a very unpleasant run around to a windswept #2W. Continued around the coast and up the path to Te Paku Paku Rd and eventually to #64. Bit of a chinwag about the possibility of catching a bus from the top of Darlington Rd to Miramar Ave but timetable no good so back to running. Time to spare before return to finish so picked up 1V, 3A, 2T, 2S, 1Z and 49 on the boat. Quick sprint to the bus stop north of the runway only to realise the time on my watch was actually the stopwatch running time rather than the real time. As the plan was to catch the #2 bus to Haitaitai tunnel we sat and watched two other buses go past before ours arrived. Still a nice rest for weary legs.

Yay the bus arrives and a quick trip to the tunnel. 25 minutes to go so a hard push up past 2k to #63 and realise I’m going to have to run harder to get back in time. Tim adamant we are going to get 2F on the way and then a slog into the wind to finish with 13seconds to spare. Another great effort from the young gun but saw the old fella retire to the back of the car for a rest before the prize giving.

Routemasters: Mark Edwards and Elaine Powell, 2nd 3-hour