DRIVING FATIGUE

VEHICLE PREP

TEAM
PREP

You and a colleague or friend have decided to enter. Maybe you have a team of four or five. But what can you expect from living in each other's faces for three or four days?
Firstly, there's the journey to John O'Groats itself. If you've never been there, you'll be surprised at just how far it is. Scotland goes on for a long, long way above Glasgow - and the M90 ends just 40 miles north of the Firth of Forth! So before the event even begins, you'll have driven a long way together and because of the limited accommodation at JO'G, you may even be sharing a room, too!
Then the run itself begins.
There's a lot to cope with - especially if the weather isn't on our side. On top of the driving and navigating, there are spot questions to answer, which are in no particular order and could be anywhere on the route. You'll be together in your vehicle for a long day, around 12 hours if all goes well.
A little longer if it doesn't!

The Hydro on Sunday night offers sumptious space and luxury, so there's some respite to be had. And then you're off again for the long haul down to Land's End. All in all, you'll have spent something like 50 or so hours in very close company with your team-mate, driving well over 1500 miles - over 2,000 if you're on the east of the country.
Do you get on?
Do you trust each other's driving?
Will you be able to go with the flow, and not criticise or react to every little error of judgment? You'll need to be a team - not two individuals. You'll need to work together, to trust each-other's judgment and to back each other up. Watch for fatigue (not to be under-estimated, see the fatigue article) and also watch for speed. This is an endurance run, which is very different to a race. Speed is not an ally, it's an enemy.

If you haven't already, it's well worth going out for a good few miles together to get use to each other's driving style and to talk things through. We've had very few personality problems on any of the Lighthouse Runs, but it's well worth making sure you and your team-mate work out your strategy and approach beforehand. Discuss your driving rota. You may want to be flexible and just swap when you feel like it, or you may want to stick to a routine of an hour each. What about food/drink in the car? Music or no music? It may seem petty at this stage, but it's well worth sorting these things out well in advance. A minor irritation on the journey to JO'G can turn into a major problem after a couple of days. The key is to relax, to rely on your team-mate's judgment and to let whomever is in the driving seat do the driving!