Jailbreak 2012 – The Preview

Sponsorship forms are wending their way through college bars, Primark’s supply of collecting buckets has disappeared, and all over Cambridge pairs of people are desperately researching the safety of hitchhiking in Albania. It can only be Jailbreak time…

What is it?

Jailbreak is a charity hitchhike which will take place this weekend. 150 teams of two have 36 hours to get as far away from Cambridge as possible.

Sounds easy, right? The catch is that the teams can’t spend any of their own money. Instead they must beg and barter their transport in a quest to escape Cambridge, Britain and in the most extreme cases, Europe. This year, The Tab will be there every step of the way, bringing you all the latest news and updates. Our exclusive live map will let you track each team as they make their bids for glory.

And, for your pleasure, team of Tab personalities will be providing their own live updates as they try to seize the top spot.

Jailbreak 2011- a recap:

Last year’s winners, Samir and Aneesha, managed to blag flights all the way to Buenos Aires. The duo tried Argentinian steak, went to Hooters, and even saw a commercial being filmed.

Meanwhile, team 35 – Genevieve and Simon – were arrested outside the Parthenon for their political views. And team 85 – Ant and Noami – enjoyed a 4am stop to make pasta at the side of the road while listening to a CD of songs about sustainable fishing… what more could you want?

Jailbreakers also made it as far as Dubai, San Diego and New York, and picked up lifts on everything from a camel to an ambulance.

Jailbreak 2012 – the hopefuls

Aside from the Tab’s own teams, there are sure to be some gripping escapes this year.

Michelle Gomes and Jonathan Hollis have stated their desire to beat previous best of Poland by aiming for Australia, with several teams reported to be looking at the possibility of acquiring foreign visas in advance.

Meanwhile, in a bid to raise sponsorship, two Sidney grads, Terence and Chris, have set up their own website to collect geographically determined pledges, and even made their own Jailbreak video.

httpvh://youtu.be/dR-AgQqTSS0

What’s at stake?

Of course, the main incentive behind Jailbreak is raising money for RAG, but for that little bit extra motivation the committee have provided three fabulous prizes for the competitors this year.

The team raising most sponsorship money will get tickets to Sidney Sussex’s May Ball this year, while the ‘Jailbreak winners’ – the team who end up the most miles from Cambridge – will get tickets to the Robinson May Ball.

As an added bonus, whichever team wins the “land race”, meaning that they only hitchhike, and don’t take any planes on their journey, will get a BigFish Ents Life Pass.

READ: Director and top-5 Jailbreaker LOTTIE UNWIN’s tips for victory.