Two students from the University of East Anglia blagged their way from Norwich to Toronto without spending any money as they took part in the jailbreak charity event.
Jamie Fennel and Eloise Jacobi managed to travel the 3,570 miles after hitchhiking from Norwich to Gatwick Airport and persuading companies to sponsor their flights to the Canadian city.
It was all part of UEA's jailbreak charity event, organised by Livewire 1350, which saw 14 teams given 48 hours to get as far away from the campus as possible, with the only catch being that they could not spend any money.
With the cash restriction in mind Jamie and Eloise contacted a number of companies prior to the 48 hour period to try and get some sponsorship for their flights. Eventually three companies agreed to cover the costs of the flights from Gatwick Airport to Toronto Pearson but the pair still had to figure out how to reach the West Sussex airport.
'Knowing that we had the flight pre-arranged, we decided that we wanted to hitchhike our way to Gatwick,' said Jamie. 'We still wanted to make sure we had a legitimate jailbreak experience rather than just having everything arranged so we bought some A3 card and some board pens and thought that would be enough.'
The first part of their journey saw them travel from the UEA campus to the A11 near Thetford. They waited on the side of the road for about ten minutes before a man called Clinton and his girlfriend agreed to take the pair to Bedford. After waiting at a service station for 30 minutes a group of three men offered to take them to South Mimms. It was here that they met the woman who would prove to be their lifeline.
'We waited for about two hours and no one was interested in taking us,' said Jamie. 'Then came our lifeline. Estelle saw us and felt sorry for us standing around on the side of the road, it was starting to get dark and we thought we might end up stuck there.
'She said she'd happily give us a lift if we are doing it for Macmillan and as she lived in Kent she said she'd take us to the Dartford Crossing. 'Once in her car, we told what we had planned and she decided that we couldn't not make the flight. She drive past her home and made sure we made it to Gatwick.'
The pair made their flight and after eight hours landed in Toronto where they are now taking a small holiday. Their adventure has helped raise £1,250, just short of their £1,500 target.
'If there's anything I'm upset by its that we haven't managed to reach our target for Macmillan,' said Jamie. 'We are so proud of what we've done and thank every single person who has helped us achieve this.'
The charity event as a whole has so far raised nearly £8,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support with money still coming in.
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