#girlsVboysMPG

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to take part in a charity event which would pit men against women behind the steering wheel. 

The thought of taking on a rally challenge, or perhaps the quickest lap of an F1 course, or even Maryport go-kart centre got me excited and I agreed.

It was a this point I found out what you have already gathered, that the challenge was actually somewhat different.

Local marketing maestro Michelle Masters had teamed up with the good folks at Stan Palmer Honda in Cockermouth (and in particular their enthusiastic sales manager Gary Redmond) to promote the fuel efficiency of their cars and raise some money for the fabulous CFM Cash For Kids appeal at the same time. The premise was simple enough – four boys would take on four women to see who could be the most fuel efficient on a journey across West Cumbria, only stopping for afternoon tea.

The questions were plenty: would the weight advantage the women have make all the difference? Would the competitive spirit mean that we would abandon the challenge for a straight out race? Would the afternoon tea reduce fuel economy for the latter half of the challenge? And how exactly do you drive efficiently?

In fact, I wondered whether my style of full acceleration combined with fierce braking for junctions, was really best suited for this particular event. Queue swotting up on just how to do it.

So did we do it? 

I am pleased to report that the boys team (christened the ‘bad boys’ by Michelle) managed the narrowest of wins, beating the ‘good girls’ by just 0.4MPG.

I don’t know that much about fuel efficiency, but I do know that is close! It’s fair to say that the second leg of the ‘race’ was a tense and nervy affair – all played out at a maximum speed of 56 miles per hour!

The boys managed a reasonable 45.1 MPG in the Honda CRV, which was matched on the way back by the girls.

However our stonking 63.7 MPG in the Honda Civic on the return journey beat their slightly less impressive 63.1 MPG.

More importantly, we have a fabulous feed at Sella Park Hotel in Calderbridge thanks to their fabulous chef Jon-Robert Fell.

Sorry, I jest. More importantly, we managed to raise a few hundred quid for the Cash for Kids appeal and all had a good day in the process.

My main reason for writing this blog was to formally thank all of those involved who volunteered their time, cars, Twitter accounts, cake making skills and much more, so here goes:

Firstly, thanks to Stan Palmer Honda and Michelle Masters for organising the event.

Thanks to Sella Park Hotel and their chef Jon-Robert Fell and his team for feeding us.

Thanks to the impressive bad boys team who succeeded on the day (Daley Rodgers, Karl Connor, Keith McMean and me).

Thanks and commiseration’s to the good girls team (Anne Sowerby, Vivienne Tregidga, Jess Burt and Suzanne Burgess)

Thanks to everyone who donated and who got involved on Twitter to make the event such good fun.

And if you fancy giving a few pence to the cause, visit the Just Giving site.

If you fancy having your own go at trying to beat our MPGs then why not call Stan Palmer to book a test drive or even purchase one of the cars involved!