The Otley Run

The Otley Run is a time-honored event, designed to test ones stamina; measure ones balance; and ultimately evaluate ones performance; or to put it simply - get you absolutely poleaxed.

Rules are predetermined and will differ depending on which local you speak to, but the basic idea of the day is to have a pint of beer in every pub as you travel between the two universities - Headingley and Leeds. Whilst there is no specified time you have to complete this task, a pint equates to 560mls, and there are 17 drinking holes requiring attention. Do the math.

As a general rule a theme governs the trek, and on any given day if you meet a bunch of blokes dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or a group of girls clad in only bikinis, it is fair to say they are making their way up Otley Road. Pete’s Birthday would see us take on the Otley Run… dressed as the letter P.

Anything from a punk, to a park ranger, to a plethora of pirates could be found. Even Paul McCartney, Paris, and Plugger put in performances. I placed comfort as a priority and purely put on a pair of pink Pyjamas, not so much because I wanted to, more so because I could.

Day turned to night pretty quickly when the beer began to flow, and memories of the night became eternally distant. Grovesy found himself donning some Pixie ears, Azz’s jeans became a little worst for wear, disturbingly Jonesy’s pencil thin porno-moustache began to really suit him, and some crafty work by myself had the letters on the back of Pete’s jumper changed from Plugger to F*cker, making him (even more so) the butt of all jokes.

The girls held there own, and the boys began to hold them - as the triumphant march between pubs turned to either a mad dash, a daft one stop bus ride, or even more insane taxi fare, as the chilling air broke thru even the toughest of alcohol armor.

For some reason... we abandoned the night with a mere two pubs to go... only to hit a local night spot for 3 more hours of dancing and drinking. We had failed to conquer the Otley run, but in saying that, it’s not exactly something you would be writing on your CV.

Cheers to beers,
DJA

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