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St Andrews students’ Spanish adventure

Some of the students and committee members preparing to race to Madrid.
Some of the students and committee members preparing to race to Madrid.

Students will rely on their thumbs and good old fashioned charm to travel more than 1,000 miles from Fife to Madrid.

Around 200 adventurers from St Andrews University have been given six days to hitchhike to the Spanish city.

To win the race they will have to blag lifts and free tickets to travel by road, rail, sea or air and get to the finish line first.

As well as providing a trip to remember, the Race2Madrid, which begins on Thursday, will raise money for Families First St Andrews, Macmillan Cancer Support and Doctors Without Borders.

The annual hitchhiking race across Europe is the biggest of its kind in Scotland and among the highlights of the year for the university’s Charities Campaign.

This year’s destination is the furthest flung yet and will test participants’ resourceful to the limit.

Race coordinator Emma Robertson said: “We haven’t been to Madrid before, so we are quite excited to see what will happen.”

On Thursday morning students will be dropped at locations across central Scotland, including service stations and bus stations, which are kept secret so they cannot plan in advance.

Emma said: “We encourage them to spend as little money as they can.

“Those who tend to win are the people who don’t stop and don’t sleep.

“They might have a nap when they are getting a lift but keep going in between.”

Students have certificates and T-shirts to show what they are doing and have to check in every four hours or as they embark on another leg of their journey to ensure their safety and so that friends and family can chart their progress.

In previous races, which have included dashes to Prague and Berlin, students have been shown remarkable generosity.

Emma said: “We had someone pay for train tickets from the north of France all the way to Berlin and other students were picked up by the CEO of the Hilton Berlin, who put them up in his hotel.”

Students’ progress can be charted on the race website www.charityrace2.org.uk and at facebook.com/standrewsrace2.