Jailbreakers race to Amsterdam

Weak and malnourished, Warwick students will escape jail on April 30, but they will be far from safe. To escape the police, up to 400 students will be taking part in the Race 2 Amsterdam organised by the Warwick Jailbreak society. The only condition: to not spend a penny on transport.

In their bid to raise money for UNICEF, and to have a few laughs on the way, students will begin their journey at Warwick University in groups of two to five people and will hitchhike to the Dutch capital relying only on their persuasion skills, originality and the clarity of their home-made destination signs.

The website homepage of the race assures the participants that they will be “surprised at the generosity of the general public”. This most often takes the form of car and lorry drivers who stop to pick up sign-wielding hitchhikers, but trains, planes and ferries are also used to travel from one country to another.

Getting to Amsterdam for free is not an easy task, but according to event organiser Kat Sroga, when “blagging flights in the name of charity from Britain to Amsterdam,” the most popular route is the Dover-Calais ferry. Some contestants decide to take it even further. The winners of last year’s Jailbreak managed to get all the way to Bangkok, while the runner-ups hitched their way to the sunny beaches of Serbia.

Coincidentally, one of the most important national holidays in the Netherlands, Queen’s Day, will occur during the weekend. This national holiday attracts plenty of tourists, which could make it easier for hitchhikers to reach Amsterdam.

Once they arrive, the participants, who will be monitored through an SMS tracking system, will be able to register their time at a specific meeting point organized by the exec. They will then be able to meet up with other teams and celebrate. The Jailbreak exec has also organized coaches going back to the University for the Monday following the weekend, yet many students are expected to choose to hitchhike back.