Zoë Silkstone and Fenella Chesterfield tell us how they got from Cambridge to Oman in just thirty-six hours...

V: Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

Fenella: I'm in my first year studying Theology at St. John’s and Zoë is also a fresher, studying English at Robinson.  Team 60 was a great combination of a very experienced traveller, me (who went backpacking in Russia, Mongolia and China in the summer), and a much less experienced, ‘family-holiday’ traveller, Zoë.

V:  What was your strategy starting out?

Zoë: We wanted to enjoy our first Jailbreak and use it as a test run for next year (watch out – the defending champs will be back!) At the start our goal was just to get out of the EU, a hope that seemed to be slipping through our fingers on Friday morning when a very knowledgeable travel agent told us to try and get to… Dublin… when we told her we wanted to get as far away AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE from the UK!

V:  Tell us about the journey.

F and Z: After running around Cambridge in bright red onesies we managed to gather enough money together to get a train to London. Then, armed with muffins, Fenella walked the length of the train and raised an amazing £100 before we got to King’s Cross. Once in London we went to the Flight Centre on Baker Street to find out how much we needed to raise to get out of the EU. The Flight Centre was soon to become our lifesaving pit stop! We ended up raising another £200 before heading to the Ritz… (But we’ll refrain from the depressing details of that failed venture!) We then went to the BBC to try and raise some more funds. We bumped into Hugh Pym, with whom Zoë had done some work experience a few years ago, and explained to him what we were doing. He very generously donated some much-needed funds and then asked his colleagues do the same. Finally, we ran back to the Flight Centre having spotted a flight to Dubai leaving at 9:10pm Friday evening and by 5:15pm we were all booked!

We relaxed for a day in Dubai, doing all the necessary tourist attractions on the Big Bus Tour, but then got the message about a potential threat heading towards Dubai, which we were NOT having under any circumstances. We knew we had to do something drastic, and ended up hitching a lift with a wonderful man named John to Oman!  And the rest is history!

V:  And your formula for jailbreak success? 

F and Z: Wit, charm and – towards the very end – a considerable amount of running through the desert taking pictures of road signs to send to RAG headquarters!

V:  How does it feel to win?

F and Z: Surreal. That’s the best word to describe it. It’s so unexpected because we started out just wanting to get out of Cambridge for a weekend!

V:  What’s your plan now?

F and Z: We are now at Heathrow trying to leg it back to Cambridge so that Zoë can sing Evensong this afternoon!

V:  Lowest point?

F and Z: Oh, this is easy. Two words. The Ritz. We went there trying to follow the strategy of last year’s winners who raised a large amount of money at the Ritz and eventually got to Singapore. We had no such luck. Anyone looking for a thoroughly crushing, demoralising experience should follow our lead.

V:  Highest point?

F and Z: Receiving booking confirmation of a flight to Dubai because that’s when we really knew we were on our way! Winning was pretty great but it was a very stressful, blood-pressure-raising experience: standing in the desert of Oman at 1am trying to keep the Internet connection going is not as much fun as it sounds!

The few hours we spent on the beach in Dubai were also amazing: the most glorious, relaxing and surreal experience ever!

V:  How much money have you raised?

F and Z: On our online raise2give page we have raised £600. We would like to thank everyone who donated.