Lessons on the Road: Stories from St Andrews’ best crazy adventure tradition

Who would have thought that hitchhiking across Europe in a race to Madrid is how nearly 200 students chose to spend their vacation week? Race2 is an annual St Andrews tradition, entirely student-run, organised by the Charities Campaign. This year, the endeavour has raised over £68,000 for its three chosen charities: Doctors Without Borders, Fife Women’s Aid, and Centrepoint.

Teams set off from Scotland and launched into Europe, where they quickly scatter across France. The aim of the game is simple — spend as little money on public transport and accommodation as possible. A devoted safety team of student volunteers tracks each team as they progress.

I talked to three students who took part and discussed their unsettling, shocking, and crazy moments. From dire toilet situations to “crazy ladies” dropping off a team on the toll road, here’s everything they encountered racing to Madrid.

Charlotte Black, a third year in a team of three girls, ‘Albondiva,’ spoke to The Saint about her experience of the race.                                                                                                                    

“[There are] few opportunities in life where you can be carefree,” Black said. She described experiencing a sense of “boundless freedom” right from her first race in 2025. 

In spite of this, however, some concerned parents were not so keen on the adventure. One student’s parents, who requested anonymity, texted their concerns. “This hitch thing is plain stupid and dangerous,” they wrote, pleading with their child to “just give up.” 

Black had kept the hitch a secret from her parents, and probably for the better.

Black recalled a conversation with her first driver after he revealed to the team that he was an ex-convict. “I left them for dead,” he had told them, describing the provoked attack he spent time in prison for. “It was terrifying,” Black said. She expressed that the race no longer felt like a game when they had been in the car for one hour and the driver had driven past a few service stations. “Obviously, you can’t say anything,” Black explained. A car can pose a tricky situation when its riders are truly at the mercy of its driver. 

Black described how the driver gave them self-defence lessons as he whipped up his seatbelt to demonstrate on one of the team members. Despite the strange experience, Black didn’t think he was a “bad person.” He even gifted the team £20.

Black recognises this encounter was an “exceptional” one, albeit it was their first hitch. “When else would you get an experience like that?” she asked.

By the journey’s end, Black had a renewed view of kindness — a “profound sense that the majority of people are really kind and generous.” Similarly, Hazel Myrick and Lauren Blackmore, third-years of the team ‘Spanish Incarsition,’ spoke of a restored faith in humanity. 

That doesn’t mean the journey was without its challenges, though. At her lowest moment, Black recalls thinking, “Get me out of here.” This was the second night of no sleep, as their team attempted to sleep under the fluorescent lights of a Costa at Medway Services. For Black, Race2 demands a certain type of person — someone who can accept being out of control and “sleeping in random places.” 

Teams often find themselves stuck on the side of a motorway. Black recalled how their team was dropped at a toll road by a “crazy lady,” while Myrick and Blackmore were forced to cross a toll road. Learning to deal with these situations, however, is a valuable lesson.

From the lowest of lows, blossoms the highest of highs. Myrick and Blackmore endured a terrible but lucky thirteen-hour drive of over 630 miles from Maidstone to Toulouse with a Romanian lorry driver called Matteo. Matteo spoke no English and played Lena Micalus’ ‘Un copil e ca o floarein’ in a “sweltering van,” on repeat the entire journey — dizzying music from his homeland. He was accompanied by a mysterious package which had to cross the channel separately. Sometimes it’s better to ask no questions and take the ride. After two days of waiting for a lift at Folkestone, Myrick jumped straight into the back of the van. 

“Waiting for a lift after a long ride makes you feel deflated,” said Blackmore. The pair experienced a low blow when they found themselves stuck outside of Toulouse with no toilet facilities or refreshments.

That was until they hitched a lucky lift to sunny Andorra with Ivan. On the way, they even stopped off at natural hot springs — what Myricks described as a “once in a lifetime experience.” To the pair, Muhammed, their next lift, was “an angel sent from heaven.” He went out of his way to drop them at a service station within striking distance of Madrid, donated £50, and bought the team coffee.

Myrick’s favourite moment? “Driving out of Andorra with views of the Pyrenees,” she said. “As soon as you treat it as a holiday, everything falls into place.” 

Myrick suggested the importance of going with the right person. When you’re “hungry, tired, sleep-deprived,” what matters is your ability to perk up and find your inner fight. “It is an endurance game and you need a lot of resilience,” she explained. Yet, Myrick and Blackmore agree that anyone is capable of doing the Race and everyone should try it.

For Blackmore, the race “put things into perspective” and made her realise how much she wants to go travelling before jumping onto the corporate ladder. It is Black’s “favourite activity of the year” and she “looks forward to it every time.” Neither team cared about winning and agreed that it was better to take longer and enjoy the journey. Blackmore and Myrick insisted that the experience changes your life in ways you don’t recognise and agreed that more people should open their minds to hitchhiking.

For Myrick, Race2 “embodies the spirit of St Andrews” — the crazy and quirky traditions that imprint unforgettable memories. Despite its trials and tribulations, Black said she had “the best time ever.” 

Life on the road is tough, and so is fundraising, but there is comfort in the lessons of endurance and perseverance it bears. If nothing else, Race2 is an example of the hardship it takes to get to our desired destination in life and a lesson to keep pushing on, no matter the pain.

Illustration by Eve Fishman